Turning the Tables on Twenty-two
by Proudofyoubabe
Summary: JE has been giving us little tidbits of information that all is not well between Joe and Steph. She's also ramped up the things that Ranger has been saying that might make it look like he wants something more. This is my take on what will happen next book. As always a Babe HEA.
1. Chapter 1

I re-read Top Secret Twenty-one the other day on a whim and it spurred on this story. It's complete as is, but I can turn it into a multi-chapter if there is interest. Please let me know what you think.

Big thanks to Margaret for all her encouragement over the years and for deeming this good to go. Love you, girl. :)

Turning the Tables on Twenty-two

I hadn't seen Ranger in over a month. In fact the last time I saw him we were in Atlantic City keeping the world safe from Russian terrorists and grandma caught a bird's eye view of, well, um...I think you know what she caught a view of. Anyway, Ranger's been 'in the wind' and no one, not even Tank, has heard from him since.

I was starting to get a little worried. I mean, he always lets Tank know where he is. My spidey sense was working overtime and I couldn't concentrate on much, other than needing to know that he was safe. I was currently on my bed in my thinking position, worrying about him when my phone rang.

"Cupcake, wanna come over and watch the game? Bob and the boys miss you. I'll order meatball subs?"

"Uh, thanks Joe but I'm sorry. I'm just not in the mood," I told him.

And I wasn't. I hadn't _really_ been in the mood for Joe since Ranger dropped the bomb that he'd actually thought about us living together. Well he hadn't said _exactly_ that, but that was what his 'sharing his closet' comment meant. I think. Did he really see me as something more than entertainment or an occasional romp in the hay? I mean, I knew he loved me. Maybe in his own way, but he did love me. He jumped off a bridge to save me for God's sake. That could have killed the both of us.

And that got me to thinking too. When he came back I'd ask him to train me properly. Even though I usually got my man, I was a mess at my job. Understatement of the year. I _wore_ the mess more times than not.

Deciding I had nothing to lose and my phone was already in my hand, I gave Ranger's cell a buzz. Expecting voicemail, I was surprised when after two rings he picked up.

"Babe. You have an uncanny sense of timing. I just landed in Mercer. You home?"

"I was so worried about you. Yes, I'm home."

"See you in fifteen."

True to his word fifteen minutes later I heard the unmistakable whine of a finely tuned, high performance engine turning into my parking lot. I could get up and open the door or I could just sit here and see how long it took him to pick my locks. I was betting on three seconds. Five seconds shorter than it took me, using my key. I decided to wait him out.

My door opened and Ranger stepped in, blinking to see in the dark. I hadn't yet turned my lights on; I was thinking.

"Babe," he said zeroing in on me then scooping me into his arms.

I've known for a long time that I have the ability to center him. I have no idea how, since I'm a little on the scattered side, but I knew I did. I was usually the last person he saw before heading off to make the world a safe place for people like me, or the first. Today I guessed I was the first as he had a duffle bag in his hand.

He held me for what seemed like forever, kissing me on top of my head and mumbling in Spanish. I had a feeling it was a bad mission and he was really glad to see me.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked, trying for good hostess. "I can make grilled cheese sandwiches?"

"I haven't had anything substantial in over twenty hours. Let me use your shower and I'll take you out to Rossellini's," he said, mentioning a Burg landmark steeped in gossip.

I really didn't want any gossip about me right now and I'd just turned down subs with Joe. I was sure he'd hear all about my dinner with Ranger if we went there.

"How about out of the Burg and you're on?"

"Give me five minutes to shower."

"Take ten," I said being a pain in the ass.

I had gone into my bedroom to get some fresh towels for Ranger when I heard my shower running. I guessed he was serious about the five minutes. Trying not to interrupt him I reached in quickly and laid them on top of my toilet. Just as I did, the water stopped and the shower curtains parted. I was struck for a moment by just how physically gorgeous Ranger is.

"See something you like Babe?" he laughed, stepping out of the tub.

Not to make an awkward situation any more awkward, I handed him a towel and turned back towards my bedroom to find something to wear.

"So uh, Ranger, where are we going?" I asked, my head inside my closet.

"Someplace where we can talk. I want to hear what's been going on with you." Talk? Ranger? "I know a nice Cuban place if you're up for a ride," he continued.

"Sure. Dressy? Casual?" I continued my line of questioning, my head still in the closet.

"Sexy."

I turned my head and rolled my eyes at him.

"Can't blame a man for trying. I haven't seen anything that resembles a woman — except for a papaya — in over a month. And they've stopped doing it for me."

"Horny, Ranger?"

"That's not why I came here."

I felt bad egging him on. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. How's this?" I added, pulling a little black dress with a low scoop neck from my closet.

"Nice. I'll go outside so you can get dressed."

While I was at it, I decided to change into the new Victoria's Secret push up bra and matching panties I'd just bought. I figured they do a lot to enhance my _image_, so I closed the door behind him. I also needed time to tame my hair and add another coat of mascara. He'd just have to wait for me. I never said _I'd_ be ready in five minutes.

Twenty minutes later I was transformed. Not only was my hair behaving, the new bra under my dress was pushing everything I had up and out in all the right places and the FMPs I'd paired it all with were doing an outstanding job of making my legs look longer and shapelier than they were. A girl had to use what Mother Nature gave her.

I stepped out of my bedroom and sashayed by Ranger who had changed into an identical outfit to the one he was wearing before. Yeah I knew I was pulling the tiger's tail.

"Looking good," he said, transfixed on my new assets. "Are we ready?"

"Two seconds to feed Rex and grab my bag," I said bending into the refrigerator to find a couple of grapes.

"You're killing me Babe."

Oops, I forgot how short this dress was.

I grabbed my bag and led us to the elevator. No way was I walking down the stairs in these heels. Mrs. Bestler was on duty. "Lower level. Transportation and dining," she said with a wink.

"So where are we going?" I asked once Ranger opened the door for me and helped me buckle myself in; checking out my _assets_ once again.

"Alvarez Cafe in Elizabeth. We have 7:30 reservations."

"Oh." But then again I gave him an extra twenty minutes, it only takes a couple to call for a reservation. "Is it a nice place?"

"The food is good and it's owned by a friend of the family."

He was giving me information without my asking. This was new.

I expected him to get into his zone so I was surprised when he continued speaking.

"What's been going on with you?"

"Not too much. Enough low level skips so I can pay my rent and I even had enough left over to go shopping last week."

"That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. We got paid for the Vlatko job and I want to give you your share."

"My share? I didn't do much."

"Babe, you pulled the fire alarm and got him out in the open. That's more than I did, so Rangeman would like to split this fifty-fifty with you."

"How much are we talking about?"

"Your half is five hundred thousand."

I gulped. "You got a million dollars for three days worth of work?"

"Babe."

"I can't accept this Ranger! What about your men? What about the task force and all the equipment you provided?"

"My men are salaried and we didn't have to buy any new equipment for this job. The FBI also got their share and they didn't do as much work as you did."

"Yeah but one of them got killed."

"In the line of duty. We all know that's a possibility going in and you didn't sign up for that job. I've already deposited the money in your account. I also wanted you to know that everyone was impressed with your quick thinking _and_ I heard that you fractured a pelvic bone in the fall. When were you going to tell me?"

Shit. How did he find that out?

"It was no big deal. I had it x-rayed and it's already almost healed. It was just a hairline fracture. Look I'm already wearing heels. I'm fine."

"That's one of the things that we get paid for; putting ourselves in harm's way while doing our job. You didn't even tell Tank."

"Like I said it was no big deal. It just hurt for a few days so I thought I should check it out. Can we change the subject?"

"No."

"Ranger."

"Tell me again why you don't want to accept the money?" he pursued.

"I don't feel like I earned it."

"What did I just tell you?"

"That you get paid for putting yourselves in harm's way and that I didn't sign up for that. I heard you. What am I supposed to do with that kind of money anyway?"

"You can buy yourself a condo. You can get out of debt. You can treat Rex to a new habitat. It's your money to do with as you want. You earned it Babe. We're getting close and I have something else I want to talk to you about."

Here goes the lecture. "Um, ok."

"Remember I told you I didn't want you to come along because you'd be a liability, but I acquiesced to you anyway?"

"Yes?"

"I want to offer you some training. Since you're obviously able to make me change my mind, I want to know that you are as prepared as you can be."

"What kind of training?" I asked, playing dumb. I had planned to ask for training anyway.

"The kind of training you need to be able to do your job properly. I want you to spend some time on the gun range with Ram and Hector volunteered to take you through all our tech products. I'll work one-on-one with you on self-defense."

"I don't want to take up everyone's time. You guys have jobs to do."

"And you end up making our jobs harder by not working with us."

That was a kind of a slap in the face.

"That hurt."

"Sometimes a little tough love is necessary. You have to know that we care about you and only have your best interests in mind. Now will you accept the training?"

"No qualifying gym time."

"Did you hear me say anything about gym time?"

"No."

"Well?"

"Thank you Ranger. I appreciate your offer. It's really what I need and I was going to ask you to train me anyway," I decided to be truthful.

"I could almost hear a 'but' in there Babe. If you're going to do this, I don't want you to do this half-heartedly."

"No buts."

"That's my girl," he said, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss.

Of course there was a parking spot right in front of the restaurant. I could never understand how he managed that. We parked and before I could get out of the car under my own power, Ranger was in front of me to help me out, his hand moving to the small of my back as he led me to the door.

"Carlos," a female voice called excitedly as soon as we entered.

"Tia Bonita, nice to see you. This is Stephanie Plum. Steph, this is my aunt Bonita."

"Nice to meet you," I said extending my hand. What I didn't expect was being brought into a tight embrace, along with Ranger, so she could hug the both of us at the same time.

"I think this is the first girlfriend you've ever brought here, Carlos. A pleasant change from Tank, Lester and Bobby. To what do I owe the honor?"

"We work together," I said, "and Ranger wanted to talk to me in a quiet place."

"I'd hardly call this place quiet, but you are very welcome. Come inside."

There seemed to be a number of people mingling around the small bar talking while lively music played from a nearby jukebox. Others were seated at tables enjoying different stages of their meal. Everyone looked happy and it seemed like a fun place. Ranger's aunt grabbed a few menus and led us to a table in the back. I guessed she already knew the drill.

Ranger took the seat with his back to the wall so he could scan the restaurant for bad guys and I took the one in front of him, my back to the _imminent_ _danger_.

"Why don't you sit over here, next to me Babe?" he asked unexpectedly.

I figured he wanted to continue one of our conversations from before and didn't want to be overheard, so I got up and moved next to him.

"Is that really your aunt Ranger?" I asked, knowing how the Italian side of my family turned all the close friends and distant relatives into aunts and uncles.

"Tia Bonita and her husband are my godparents. My family has known their family for a long time. While she isn't actually a relative, my siblings and I call her 'aunt'.

I knew it. I didn't think he'd actually take me to meet his family.

"So what's going on with you and Morelli?" he asked as if talking about Joe was an everyday thing.

"What do you mean?" Could he read my mind?

"Just making conversation and you didn't seem to be over there tonight."

"I haven't been over there in a while. I feel like I keep getting sneak peaks into the Morelli life and I don't particularly like what I'm seeing."

"Explain."

"Well, I went there a few weeks ago to talk to him, thinking he'd be alone. It seems like the regular Sunday dinner has been moved to Joe's house and it was a zoo there with relatives I'd never seen before and Grandma Bella trying to give me the eye. Anthony's son was rolling around in the grass and got Bob poop all over him. So what did they do? A couple of the guys held him at arm's length while they sprayed dishwashing liquid on him and then took the garden hose to the poor kid. They made it seem like it was a routine thing. It was mildly disturbing...I can go on."

"Don't Babe. I get the picture."

"I can't see myself being a part of this," I continued as if he didn't tell me not to.

"Have you told this to Morelli?"

"Not yet. I don't know what to say. I mean my grandmother is a little screwy too, so who am I to talk?"

"This isn't about your grandmother. If you say this has become a common occurrence, then this is what you're getting yourself into."

"I know," I said putting my head in my hands and covering my eyes. Maybe it would all go away.

"Babe," he said laughing, "you can come out now."

"Ugg. What do you think I should do? I mean I bought a vacuum cleaner."

"One has nothing to do with the other. Why don't you go away for a few days and try to sort things out."

"I don't have the money to go..."

"Babe."

"Oh shit. I forgot all about that. Rangeman has really deposited that much into my account?"

"We have."

"Ugg, another thing to worry about."

"I don't know why you're worrying. I would think it would give you some peace of mind to know you had one less thing to worry about. Come here Babe," he said, taking my hands in his.

It was a nice gesture and he always made me feel safe. I just wished that if I followed my heart it wouldn't get broken. We seemed to be freely asking each other questions so what did I have to lose? Well everything, but what the hell.

"I have something else on my mind," I started. "Remember when we were in Atlantic City and you told me you sometimes think about marrying me? What was that all about?"

"It's true. I've thought about us living together. At times it's a comforting thought."

"And other times?"

"Other times it's scary as hell Babe."

"But it's something you've considered?"

"I thought if we were living together I could keep you safe."

"That's it? Keep me safe? Shows what you know," I added, my heart already a little broken.

I guess he could see my dejection. "Babe the waitress is coming over to take our order. Let's look at the menu; we can talk about this later."

"So what's good here?" I asked, glad for the distraction.

"The Camarones en Ajillo are exceptional and so is the Paella. May I suggest a pitcher of white sangria and the tamale appetizer to start?"

"Why don't we get one of each of them and sure, I'd love an appetizer and some sangria." "I thought tamales were Mexican?" I added.

"Interesting bit of information," he said as our waitress came back with our sangria. He poured us each a glass, looking slightly nervous in my estimation. "Cuban tamales are identical to the tamales found in Mexico City. It's believed that the Mexicans brought them to Cuba between the 1920's and the 1950's during a cultural exchange period we shared, prior to the Castro regime."

"Oh. So it's really like we'll be eating Mexican tamales?"

"I guess you could look at it that way. I saw your face fall before; can we talk about us for a minute."

Shit. Was he going to rub salt in my wounds? "Um, sure."

"This last mission was particularly bad for me. The intel was spotty and more likely than not, it was wrong when it finally arrived. On numerous occasions I thought about you and wondered if I'd ever see you again. On one night that stands out in my mind as the worst, I made a promise to myself that I would talk to you once I got back."

I swallowed hard but didn't say anything, so he continued.

"This is why I asked you earlier about Morelli. I'd like to pursue a relationship with you."

"What do you mean Ranger? You said you don't do relationships."

"I did say that and I meant it at the time. The thought of never seeing you again made me re-think a lot of things. This is going to sound odd coming from me and I've never said this to a woman before but I'd very much like to date you."

"Date me, Ranger?"

"Take you places, show you a good time, spend a day with you. That sort of thing."

"Meet your family?"

"Yes. I'll take you to meet my family if that's what you'd like. You've met my aunt."

"She's not your _real_ aunt."

"You can meet my real aunts."

"Are you looking for an answer from me?" I asked when the conversation suddenly stopped.

"As an example, Tank and Lula are dating again. He's taking her to the philharmonic next week."

"I'm more of the Bon Jovi type, but if that's what you wanted to do, I'd take a chance."

"Babe."

"I'd like that Ranger."

I guessed I'd have to have that awkward conversation with Morelli after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you so much for all your reviews and for encouraging me to continue. And thank you Margaret for reading ahead and deeming this good to go. Love you, girl. :)

**Chapter 2**

True to his word, dinner was amazing. The shrimp were tender and the garlic sauce they were bobbing in was totally yummy. The paella was better than _any_ I'd ever had before and the flavors of the rice, chicken and seafood left a happy taste in my mouth. I guessed I liked Cuban food. Well, I certainly liked this one Cuban man. _Liked?_ Loved was more like it, but now was not the time to tell him, even though the sangria we'd been sharing had me buzzed enough to spill the beans.

"This is so gooood," I moaned after another forkful of paella.

"I told you the food was good and you have half the restaurant watching you appreciate it," he laughed.

"I can't help it. God," I moaned once more, pushing my plate away before I was tempted to stuff myself.

"Would you like some dessert Babe? I hear my aunt makes a killer tres leches cake and I can attest for the flan myself, she makes it for family gatherings."

"Why don't we get one of each," I repeated my enthusiasm from earlier. "This way I can test them both out."

This got me the 200-watter.

We ordered dessert and while we were waiting for it to arrive Ranger took one of my hands in his and with the other he tilted my chin up to him and kissed me. It was soft and delicious and I wanted more, but he pulled back and smiled at me. Damn sexy man.

"I imagined kissing those lips more times over the last few weeks then I dare to tell you about," he said, looking from my eyes to my lips and then lightly running a finger over the bottom one as he spoke. "The things they do to me."

I wasn't a prude and I knew what I could do to him and if we weren't in a restaurant I'd work it to my advantage. Unfortunately the moment was gone and the waitress was bringing dessert and coffee over.

The flan was good but the tres leches cake was to die for. It was like the best sponge cake I ever had. There was whipped cream on top and a sweet milky sauce seeping through every pore of the cake. It was even better than my mom's pineapple upside down cake, and that said a lot.

"Oh God Ranger, do you think your aunt would share this recipe? I mean, I don't cook but I'd learn for this alone."

"Babe," he laughed, "Ella has the recipe. Come for dinner on Wednesday and I'll ask her to make it for you."

Wednesday? That was the day after tomorrow.

As if reading my mind Ranger smiled and took my hand to his lips, "Babe, this cake needs to soak for about ten hours. It will be better on Wednesday. Are you ready to go? I want to get you home before your sugar high wears off."

He took a stack of bills from his wallet and filled the check folder without looking at the total. I had a feeling the waitress was getting a really good tip. He then helped me up and we walked towards the front of the restaurant.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself," his Aunt Bonita said to me, coming around from behind the bar to send us off.

"The food was fabulous but the tre leches cake was something else," I said. "Thank you so much, I feel like we got the extra-special treatment."

"Well thank you. I saw Carlos flirting with you. It was good to see. I don't think he has enough fun in his life and it looked like you were making him happy. I hope the both of you will come back soon."

"We will, Tia Bonita." Ranger said, bringing his aunt to him for a kiss goodbye. She quickly pulled me into the fold too. I liked her, even though she wasn't his _real_ aunt.

We said goodbye again as Ranger fobbed the car open. Perfect gentleman, he helped me in and his eyes once more took stock of my newest _assets _while he buckled me up.

"About this dating thing Ranger, were you really serious?" I asked as we turned towards the parkway.

"Couldn't be more so. I was going to ask you when we got back to your apartment, but I can ask you now. I've been invited to a fundraiser for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra being held at the governor's mansion on Friday night. I'd like you to come with me as my date."

"The governor's mansion?"

"In Princeton, Babe. It's a black tie affair."

"Black tie," I repeated. "I don't have anything appropriate to wear."

"Ella knows your size. I can have her pick up a few things for you to choose from; I know this is last minute. I didn't think I'd be back in time myself, but it's for a good cause. The New Jersey Symphony is only funded by donation and my niece plays cello for them and this year has been affiliating as an associate conductor. Rangeman has been a benefactor for the last three years."

"You have a niece that plays cello for the New Jersey Symphony? How old are your _sisters and brother_?" I blurted out figuring his niece had to be an adult and trying to do some quick math.

"She's my oldest sister Maria's daughter and she's nineteen. Her name is Kelsey. She's been playing professionally since she's fifteen. Maria is forty-three."

I couldn't believe he told me that.

"Will your family be there?"

"Most likely my parents and Kelsey's mom and dad will attend. There's a $500 a head donation fee. My other siblings are in various stages of adulthood. My youngest sister is 24."

"You've never shared anything about your family before," I said surprised.

"Yes I have. I told you about Celia, the third oldest. She may show up too if her husband isn't on rotation. He's a cardiologist and they live in Princeton."

Was this Ranger?

"So I get to meet your parents then?" I guessed I sounded nervous.

"Don't worry Babe. They are nice people and they'll love you. If they don't, I'll shoot them," he added with a laugh. He was joking, right? Wasn't he?

"That was an attempt at humor," he said, putting my mind at rest.

Next thing I knew we were pulling into the parking lot behind my apartment building.

"I left my duffle in your living room, is it ok if I come up for a minute?" he asked. Asked? Ranger never asks, he just does.

"Of course. We can watch a movie too if you want."

He didn't answer but took my keys to open my apartment. After a quick scan for bad guys he came back to me, tilted my chin to him and kissed me. It was a really nice kiss and I could feel his body respond. Mine had been ready to go since he kissed me in the restaurant.

We broke for air and he leaned in so our foreheads were touching. It was a comforting gesture as my heart was still beating way too fast.

"There's nothing I'd like more than to spend the night making love to you but I don't want to be responsible for the guilt you'll feel in the morning. Talk to Morelli and I'll see you on Wednesday. Ok, Babe?"

I was hoping for a Ranger-induced orgasm, but he was right. My catholic guilt would make me miserable if I didn't have a conversation with Joe first.

"You can stay over if you want. We don't have to do anything." I don't know where that came from. There was no way if he stayed we'd remain chaste. He knew it too.

"Thanks Babe, but I think I should get going. Can I call you tomorrow?"

Another question? "Um, sure."

He kissed me once more and he headed out. I had a lot of things to think about between now and Wednesday and I needed to have a talk with Joe. I looked at the clock; it was only a quarter to ten, Joe would still be up. Did I want to do this now? No. But I didn't want to do it tomorrow either, so I picked up my phone and pressed Joe's number. He answered on the second ring, the Yankees and the unmistakable voice of his brother loud in the background.

"Hi Cupcake. Listen, Anthony and Mooch are here. If you're coming over can you bring another six-pack?"

Was this the way I wanted to have a conversation with Joe: game, beer, chaos? No, I'd do it another time.

"It's ok Joe. I'll call you tomorrow. Will you be home after work?"

"Yeah. Unless I pull a double or triple homicide I should be home by 4:30."

"Ok, I'll call you before I come."

Yep this was _exactly_ what gave me cause for concern. With the Morelli's your private life just wasn't private and every sister, aunt and uncle just showed up and thought they had a right to tell you what to do.

I washed my face, changed into my comfy PJs and turned on the TV for company.

_Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie,_ I said to myself over the TV, _what is it that you really want?_

I honestly didn't know so I turned off the TV, crawled into bed and got back into my thinking position.

Joe:_ Wants a stay-at-home wife_ (that's not me), _lots of kids_ (not sure; right now I don't want any), _dinner on the table at six_ (can't promise, I might have an FTA to catch and I can't cook anyway), _has a stable job but works a million hours_ (I guess we'd have to figure that out) _and he _hates_ my job_ (the one I'm keeping). _We have great make-up sex _(is that _really_ what it takes?)_._

One 'maybe', four minuses and one 'I don't know' for Joe.

Ranger:_ Says he loves me_ (I'm pretty sure he does), _hasn__'__t mentioned kids_ (he has Julie), _Ella can put dinner on the table _whenever_ we get home, owns his own company but also works a lot of hours _(he's got employees, he doesn't have to do _all _the work), _encourages me and helps me do my job when I ask, is a phenomenal lover who cares about my needs above his own. And he just put a shitload of money into my bank account _(what was I going to do about that?).

Five pluses, one minus and one 'I don't know' for Ranger.

I guess I fell asleep after that and didn't wake up until the morning.

I got myself ready, stopped at Tasty Pastry for a dozen, then made my way to the bond's office. I wanted to ask Lula about Tank and if they were _really_ going to the philharmonic. I also wanted the name of Connie's real estate agent. If I actually had five hundred thousand dollars in my name (and so far I'd been afraid to look), it was time to start making some investments.

"Hey girlfriend," Lula called, her head inside one of the file cabinets. Maybe she was actually filing?

"Hi guys. Ranger's back and he said you're seeing Tank again?" I asked, looking at Lula and putting the bag of donuts on Connie's desk. I was hoping my tone was carefree and easy.

"Sorry," Lula responded, seeing the donuts and removing herself from the file cabinet to grab one. "I wanted to keep that to myself for a while. He says he wants to try dating and I don't know where this 'dating' thing is going to lead."

"To the philharmonic, from what I hear."

"Um, yeah. He thinks it would be good for me, seeing as I've signed up for another humanities class at school."

"That's great Lula. How many credits do you have now?"

"This class is four and I already have sixteen. I need sixty for my associates, so I still have a long way to go, but he's been encouraging me."

Sounded familiar.

"You said Ranger's home? You look as stressed as ever, did something happen to him while he was away? You know, like maybe he can't _perform_ anymore?"

"I think he's perfectly fine," I answered smiling, remembering the kiss and _all_ his hard muscles. "He said he had a revelation while he was away and that he wants to date me."

"As in _no sex_? Girlfriend, that ain't a good idea for you. You got all those extra hormones…"

"Yeah I know. It's only temporary; I have to talk to Morelli. Connie, can I get your real estate agents name?"

"You get firebombed again?" from Lula.

"No. I got paid for a job I helped Ranger with. You remember Atlantic City."

"How much you get paid that you looking to move?"

"I'm actually looking to _buy_…and I tried to give it back."

A 'holy shit' came from the both of them, practically in unison.

Connie didn't have any new skips, which was fine by me, as I needed to think about what I was going to tell Joe. I knew the longer I'd wait the harder it would be. I was just getting ready to head out when my phone rang. It was Ella.

"Ranger asked me to help you find something to wear for the black tie event on Friday and I'm currently at Lord & Taylor. I'm a little unsure about sizing, would you have maybe an hour to spare? I've already pulled some dresses and I don't know your shoe size."

"The Lord & Taylor at Quaker Bridge?" I asked for clarification.

"Yes."

"I can head there now. And I'm an eight in most shoes."

"Call me when you're close and I'll meet you at the shoe department entrance."

Well that was unexpected and both Connie and Lula were looking at me as if I'd gown another head.

"Ranger's housekeeper," I said in leu of an explanation. "I need to meet her at the mall. Connie text me your real estate person's name and number and I'll see the both of you tomorrow," I added, grabbing an extra donut for the ride.

For once I had pretty good parking karma and found something not far from the Lord & Taylor's shoe entrance. I called Ella to let her know where I was and saw her stick her head out to look for me. I waved and I caught up to her a minute later.

"Thank you for helping me, Ella. I've never had to dress for the governor's mansion before."

"It's a little like dressing for a wedding but come inside and I'll show you what I found. Maybe we can eliminate some and narrow this down to one or two."

I noticed right away that the dresses were not all long and shapeless. Guessed the Trenton society column had given me the wrong impression. Ella had pulled a number of form-fitting, floor-length dresses with slits that made me think of Angelina Jolie. There was also a dress that was just below the knee and another that was slightly above. My two favorites were a silver, below-the-knee, embroidered lace sheath dress and a long, pale-pink one with drop shoulders and a leg-revealing slit. I took them both into the dressing room to try on.

"Once we find a dress, we can get shoes to match, these are just so you can try the dresses on," she said handing me a generic pair of strappy sandals in a size eight.

I tried on the embroidered one first, then came out to show Ella. She was shaking her head slightly. "This is going to need a lot of alterations, try on the other one."

I put the other over my head and then stopped dead in my tracks when I saw my reflection. It fit like a glove. I looked so _innocent_ and...beautiful.

"This is the one Ella," I said coming out to show her.

"Oh dear. This is beautiful. You look so lovely."

"I don't think it needs any alterations," I said turning around to show her.

"A little nip in the back, but not much more. I can do that for you so we don't have to come back here."

Well that took all of ten minutes. The shoes would probably take longer. We got in line to pay for the dress and Ella had her black Amex card out.

"I can buy this, Ella." Well I could if I actually believed I had money in my account.

"This is Ranger's card and he asked me to get you outfitted. He'll be angry with me if you pay. How about you're on your own for your hair and nails?"

Oh shit. I forgot about hair and nails. "I hope I can get an appointment with Mr. Alexander at such late notice."

"He's here, isn't he? Why don't we just stop by in person. I'm sure he'll be able to squeeze you in on Friday."

I wasn't so sure unless she had _persuasive_ powers.

"I'm glad you picked this dress," Ella said, handing me the package so she could put Ranger's card away. "I noticed a pair of Jimmy Choos' that would go well with it. They were near the entrance, I'll show you."

I followed Ella back into the shoe department and she took me directly to a _$581.00_ pair of shoes. _Of course they were gorgeous and would work perfectly with the dress_, I thought shaking my head. _$581.00._ I asked to see them in an 8 and an 8 1/2 just in case they ran small.

They didn't. They were perfect. So once again, out came Ranger's black Amex card and Ella paid for my shoes.

I was starting to feel like a kept woman but I'd promised Ella, so I didn't say anything. I'd figure out a way to pay Ranger back at another time. Yeah, paybacks can be a bitch.

After we were done, we went over to Mr. Alexander's salon.

"_Mrs. Guzman_, how nice to see you. Stephanie," he cooed as we walked in.

Ella knew him?

"I thought it was the same person," she whispered to me. "My cousin is his partner."

"Hi Alex, nice to see you. How's James?" she said in way of greeting. No one called Mr. Alexander _Alex_.

"Good. What can I do for you?"

And that was how I got a coveted appointment for my hair _and_ a mani and pedi on a Friday afternoon.

Still shaking my head, we headed out to our cars.

"Stop by for ten minutes and I'll make a quick alteration so you'll be set for Friday. It really won't take long," she convinced me.

I certainly hoped it wouldn't; I needed to stop by Joe's and I still had no idea what to say to him. Maybe Ella had the magic answer for that too.

We both got in our cars and I followed her to Rangeman. I noticed _all_ of Ranger's cars in their bays as I parked in visitor parking before following Ella up to six. I didn't want to run into him until I got Joe out of the way. I wasn't strong when it came to Ranger.

"So I guess I'll be seeing more of you?" Ella questioned as I changed into the dress and shoes. "I know you're coming for dinner tomorrow and at Ranger's request I have a tres leches cake in the refrigerator and..."

"Thank you but I better cool it with the tres leches cakes if I want to fit into this dress, although that doesn't mean I can't have a piece. Or two. It's sooooo good."

"What's going on with you two? Did he finally man up?" she asked as I came out and stood in front of her full-length mirror.

"He had a revelation and now I need one; I have to talk to Joe and let him know it's over between us."

"At Ranger's request?"

"No. It's something I've been putting off for a while. Ranger would _never_ ask me to do that, but I have a lot of guilt. I've known Joe all my life."

"Will he get violent? Want me to have a couple of the guys follow you?" she seemed concerned and stopped pinning to ask.

"I don't think so. He has a temper and he doesn't like Ranger — not that I'm going to mention Ranger's name, but he won't _do_ anything. It's been over between us for a while but neither of us wants to make the first move. So I guess I'll be the one."

"Why don't you take Cal and Ram with you. I'm pretty sure I saw that they were both off duty today. I can call them if you..."

"Thanks Ella but I'll be fine and I'm sure Ranger's stuck trackers in my bag somewhere. If he shoots me, you'll will be able to find the body," I joked. Joe wouldn't shoot me.

I changed back into my jeans while Ella took the dress over to her sewing machine. She undid the entire back and following her pin lines, sewed it all back together.

"Try it on just to make sure," she added, handing it back to me.

I did. It was perfect, so I took the dress and shoes and headed back down to my car. I knew Joe wouldn't be able tell where I was, but I felt slightly guilty calling him from Rangeman. I'd drop my things off first and call him from my apartment. On second thought, I'd just head over there.

His car was sitting in the driveway so I knew he was home. Before I chickened out, I parked in front, grabbed my bag and got out. Bob must have sensed I was there because he bounded to the door and started barking as I made my way up the walk.

Joe was right behind him, looking sexy as hell in his beat up jeans and T-shirt.

"Hey Cupcake. I thought you were going to call?"

"Sorry, I was in the neighborhood," I said stiffening as he leaned in to kiss me. "Listen Joe, we have to talk."

"What's up? Do you have another stalker?"

"No Joe, nothing like that. This is about us. Can I come in?"

"Listen Steph, you don't have to explain. I can tell your heart hasn't been in it the last few times we've seen each other. Is it Ranger?"

Well Ranger wasn't out of the picture but that's not why I was here.

"This has nothing to do with Ranger, this is between you and me. Joe, this just isn't going to work. I can't see myself pushing a baby carriage down the street with Angelina and Kathy and talking about spit up and poop," I said. Then started to cry. Joe deserved better.


	3. Turning the Tables—Chapter 3

Thanks again for all the great reviews. As I'm not able to personally respond to all the 'guests', this will have to serve as my thank you and know that I appreciate each and every one of them too. Also a big thank you to Margaret for taking the time to pre-read and beat me up for not beating up Joe enough :) Love you girlfriend :)

Since I'm writing this on the fly, if there's anything you'd like to see covered in the next few chapters, let it out. Thanks again :)

**Chapter 3**

I left Joe's an hour later. I felt bad doing a hit and run, so I took some time to further explain myself. I brought up his nephew Bobby and the poop incident that had me disturbed for days and I told him that I wanted to make some changes in my own life and most-likely buy my own apartment.

"I don't want to bust your bubble Cupcake, but where are you going to come up with the money to buy a place? You barely scrape by now."

Shit.

"I got paid for a job I did with Ranger. I mean, I haven't checked my balance yet but he told me my half came to five hundred thousand dollars."

"What kind of a job was this?" Joe asked, the veins in his neck beginning to pop.

"I helped him 'detain' a Russian terrorist," I blurted out quickly. "You remember Vlatko and my trip to Atlantic City?"

"I knew there was more to it than you let on. God dammit," he cursed, finally exploding. "He could have gotten you killed."

"I know and I'm taking care of that too. I'm getting some training. Look Joe, I hope we can remain friends; we've been through so much together. Maybe I could come and see Bob every once in a while so he doesn't forget me?"

"Yeah. Who's training you? Manoso?"

"Rangeman," I answered, so as not to start world war three.

"I don't think I want to know about this." Good, I didn't want to elaborate.

My phone buzzed in my bag. It was probably Connie texting me her real estate agent's info.

"I have to go, Joe. I have things to do today. How about a hug for old time's sake?" I asked hoping to diffuse any additional discussions about Vlatko or Ranger.

"Yeah Cupcake, come here," he said with his arms out so I could scoot under for a hug. We held each other for a few seconds and he kissed me on the top of my head.

"I'll see you around, ok?"

"Be safe Cupcake."

And with that I left before I started to cry again. Emotions were a bitch. I had to end this, but my heart still hurt. Sometimes I wished I could be more like Ranger, put on the blank face and all would be well. I couldn't, so I got into the Rangeman loaner Mercedes I'd been driving around in for the last month and parked around the corner to pull myself together. I dug through my bag between the tears and found my phone. I had a text from Connie with the contact info for her real estate person and also a message from Ranger. I was about to listen to Ranger's message when a dark shadow fell across my driver's window. I looked up with a start to see Ranger standing there.

I powered down the window and he leaned in. He cradled my face in his hands and used his thumbs to wipe the tears from my eyes.

"You ok Babe?"

I snorted back another sob and nodded.

"Come on, I'll take you home. You don't look like you're in any shape to drive. Someone will pick up the car and park it in your lot."

He was right, so I got out and opened the back door to grab the shopping bags with my dress and shoes. I wasn't leaving them in the car.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"Babe."

I _knew_ there were trackers on me somewhere.

Ranger took the bags from me while I fobbed the car locked. We crossed the street to his Porsche together, his hand on the small of my back protectively.

"Successful day shopping?" he nodded to the bags as he put them into the tiny backseat, if you could even call it that.

"Ella had everything out, I just tried a few things on and we were out of there in probably an hour. It was record time for me. Did you know that her cousin is Mr. Alexander's partner?"

"No, is that supposed to mean something?"

"It means she got me an appointment for Friday when they were booked solid. I'm still in shock."

"I always knew she was amazing."

"And I got Connie's real estate agent's number. I think I'm going to look at some condos in Hamilton Township."

"Positive move. Let me know if you want some help deciding. I can call up their history and let you know about their safety features."

I nodded and thought about what else I could tell him. Joe was something I didn't want to talk about yet. Then I realized I didn't have to; we were pulling into my driveway.

Ranger had grabbed my bags from the back and still managed to beat me. I was in the process of opening my door from the inside when it opened for me and a hand came in to help me out. He carried my bags up to my apartment and took the key from me so he could check for bad guys. I wasn't expecting any but hey, you never know. Once all was clear he came back and took a good look at my tear-streaked face.

"Want to talk about it?"

Normally I'd say no but he'd been so honest with me that I felt I needed to reciprocate.

"I had that talk with Joe and it was harder than I thought it would be. I told him what I wanted to do with my life and we came to an understanding, although he's pretty pissed off about the Vlatko thing."

"You told him?"

"I told him I wanted to buy a condo and he laughed and told me I had no money, so I had to tell him more than I wanted to."

"I'll be on the lookout. He's probably going to try to give me a ticket for something to get even. I have to get back to work, are you going to be ok? Do you need me to send one of my men over to keep an eye on the place?"

"Joe won't come here. I'm good," I said, although I was sure that fell on deaf ears.

"Talk to you later," he said bending down to kiss me goodbye.

"Thanks Ranger. I appreciate all you've done for me."

"De nada Babe. I'll call you tonight."

_**Ranger's POV**_

I left Stephanie and went directly to Morelli's house. I had some things I wanted to talk to him about. I parked in the driveway behind his truck so there would be no way he could sneak out the back and take off when he saw me at the door.

I rang the bell and the dog barked, so I knew he wasn't out walking that undisciplined canine.

Morelli came to the door right behind the dog.

"What do you want Manoso?"

"Ten minutes of your time. Can I come in?"

He begrudgingly opened the door for me, holding the dog by his collar so he wouldn't run out. He ushered us into his living room, which was strewn with pizza boxes and soda and beer cans. He'd have a gut like Governor Christie's by the time he was forty if he kept this up.

"Sorry," he said, pointing to the mess, "my brother and cousin come here for lunch and nobody cleaned up. What can I do for you?"

"I bumped into Stephanie outside and she was pretty upset. So much so that I drove her home and had one of my men come and get her car. She told me about her conversation with you and I have some things I'd like to say on the subject. First off, I want you to know that I plan to ask her out. And secondly, I'd like your word that you're going to adhere to her wishes and let her regain her life."

"Regain her life? You make it sound like I kept her prisoner."

I raised an eyebrow in response to that. Give it another year and she would have felt like one.

"Matter of semantics. Listen, I've been a good guy while the two of you have been on and off this last year but _I am serious_ about pursuing Steph."

"We may have broken up but I see you breaking her heart. And when you do that, how are you going to live with yourself? She wants more than you're willing to give her. You know that."

"How do _you_ know what she wants? It seemed to me that you were too busy trying to conform her to your standards to even ask her what she wanted. And for your information I plan on making this long-term."

"You gonna marry her Manoso?"

"If that's what she wants. I didn't see you making that effort. Listen, I'm not here to disagree with you, I just want to state my intentions in case you begin to hear rumors."

I turned to walk out; I never planned on spending more than a few minutes here.

"At least I never put her in danger. She told me about being _paid_ for one of your jobs."

"She insisted on coming along even after I told her no and she was _paid_ because it was her quick thinking that saved the lives of several hundred people. She's a very brave and bright woman and I don't think you give her enough credit."

"And she's as tenacious as a bulldog. You're going to have your hands full. Hope you have insurance on the men who are training her."

"They volunteered. She won them over a long time ago. I have to go Morelli."

_**Stephanie's POV**_

After Ranger left I got up the nerve to call Connie's friend in real estate, Carmela Ragguzio.

While the line was ringing, I checked to see if my car was back in my parking lot. It was. "Ms. Ragguzio?" I asked when a woman's voice answered my call. "This is Stephanie Plum, I work with Connie Rosolli. She gave me your number."

"Oh I love Connie. What can I do for you?"

I told her that I was interested in buying a one- or two-bedroom place and we agreed to meet in her office in an hour. She was going to pull a few files to get an idea of what I liked before we took a ride to Hamiliton.

What did I like? I didn't even know. I just knew I wanted low maintenance and out of the Burg. I took the time to wash my face and reapply my mascara so I didn't look like I'd just had an emotional outburst and headed out to meet with Carmela.

"So I have a couple of garden apartments, some hi-rises and one, no make that two, condominium townhouses. Whatcha interested in?"

"I want something safe and secure. My apartments tend to get broken into a lot."

"Probably the most secure would be something in a hi-rise with a 24-hour doorman. Or, I have something in a gated-community in Ewing. That's pretty safe too. If you get broken into a lot," she added, as if getting _broken into_ was an everyday occurrence, "I'd stay away from the garden apartments and townhouses without 24-hour security."

"Um, yeah, that sounds good. I'm just not so sure about the hi-rise," I said thinking about fires, "but I'll look at it. Tell me about this gated-community. What is it?"

"The place has a barrier around it and its entry is through a gatehouse which is restricted to owners and pre-approved visitors…"

"You said it's in Ewing?"

"Actually Ewing has lower taxes because of all those pharmaceutical companies but it should be the same distance to your office. You said you worked with Connie, right?"

Yeesh, I hadn't even thought about taxes.

"Ok, let's look at what you have; both in the gated-community and those hi-rises."

"Let's go to Ewing first. I think you'll like it and the present owners re-did the kitchen recently. It's nice and modern," she said, picking up her phone and placing a call to get us access.

I guessed to some, a new kitchen would be a big selling point but I didn't say anything. I didn't want her to think there was something wrong with me.

She grabbed some keys from a locked cabinet and we headed out to her car. Ten minutes later she was showing ID to a guard in a gatehouse. Hmmm. If everyone had to go through this to get anywhere near me, it seemed like I'd be pretty safe.

"I saw you watching that. If you lived here, the security guys would know you. You wouldn't have to show your ID every time you came and went. It's this third unit over here," she added, pulling in to a short driveway with a one-car garage behind it. "The owners relocated to North Carolina so there's no one here at the moment. Just picture your furniture in place and it should feel more like a home."

Ha. She didn't know who she was dealing with. My furniture was all mismatched hand-me-downs, nothing worthy of seeing another home. I'd probably look to get all new.

Using one of the keys, she let us in. First thing I noticed was the two-story entrance way. Very elegant. She turned on some lights and we took a short flight of stairs up to the living/dining room. I could see my TV up against one of the walls; that much I could picture. She pointed out the deck off the dining room, and then took me into the kitchen. It actually rivaled Ranger's. It had a small island with an overhang that you could use for eating. Nice wood cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

"Don't you want to open the cabinets? There's a built-in pantry here too," she added opening some doors for me to look inside. "Look, the drawers are soft-close, so they don't make noise when you close them."

The soft-close thing got to me. I went back and opened another just so I could bang it shut like I did at home. Except it didn't bang. It stopped half way then slowly closed on its own. "Pretty cool."

There was a small powder room off the kitchen and a large master bath and two bedrooms up another short flight of stairs. And it had both an attic and a finished basement with a washer and dryer.

"I like this place a lot," I said walking around again. Ok, ok, it was the soft-close that did it for me. No more scaring Rex.

"Let's head to the hi-rise in Hamilton so you can compare. I have both a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom available in the same building."

While the hi-rise was nice, the halls were dark and the garage was scary. I could easily see bad guys sneaking in there during the day to avoid a confrontation with the 24-hour security guard. I'd ask Ranger to pull his stats on both but I was leaning towards the gated condo.

"I need to think," I told Carmela honestly. "Can I bring a friend by to look at them with me again tomorrow?" Maybe Connie would come with me after work.

"Sure, but if you're interested in the place in Ewing, I'd make a move on it soon. It's not going to last."

And that was the one that I liked the best. I'd feel bad if I lost out on it because I wanted someone else's opinion.

"Can I back out if it doesn't measure up?"

"You can back out if it fails inspection, yes."

I was thinking more about Ranger's security stats, but as long as I knew I had some kind of an out, I decided to go for it.

"Um, I really like the place in Ewing. What do I have to do to make sure no one else snaps it out from under me."

"Make an offer. This is my listing so I have direct access to the owners. If they accept your offer, you're in. But this is priced to sell so I wouldn't go much lower."

"Ok, let's do it. What's the asking price, $245?" She nodded. "Offer them $240 and see what they say." Stephanie Plum, seasoned real estate negotiator. Not.

I left Carmela after that and headed back to Trenton, stopping at the supermarket first to get some staples. Having three bags of groceries felt weird to me, but I guessed that's the kind of shopping adults normally did. I was struggling with them so I didn't have to make two trips up from my parking lot when Hal appeared and took the largest bags from me. Proof positive that Ranger doesn't always listen.

I'd thanked Hal and was stashing away the last of my purchases when my phone rang. Caller ID said it was the man in question himself, so I picked up.

"Hal was in my parking lot," I said instead of hello.

"I sent him. I don't trust Morelli to stay away."

I wasn't going to argue that, _I_ didn't trust Joe to stay away…and he still had my key.

"So guess what I did this afternoon?"

"Well I know you went grocery shopping and although that's big news for you, I don't think that's what you're hinting at. What _did_ you do this afternoon?"

"I made an offer on a condo in Ewing. It's in a gated community and it felt safe and all but I'd like you to look it up anyway and…" I rambled on.

"Whoa Babe. Big breath and take a step back. You made an offer on a condo?"

"I did."

"That's cause for celebration, can I take you out to dinner tonight?"

"You took me out to dinner last night…"

"So?"

He was right, its not everyday a girl makes an offer on a condo. Well not this girl anyway. And it was a reason to celebrate.

"Um, sure. I'd like that."

"I know a great little Mediterranean cafe in Hamilton. It's on the quiet side mid-week, so you'll be able to tell me all about the place. How does that sound to you?"

"Good food?"

"Some of the best around. I can pick you up around a quarter to seven."

"Dressy?"

"It's pretty casual, so I'm sure whatever you're wearing is fine."

I'd gotten dressed up in my 'viewing' best when I went out to meet with Carmela. It was probably too conservative for a dinner date with Ranger; he likes a little skin. Actually he likes _a lot_ but I wasn't going to go overboard, this was a date not a distraction.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks again for all the great reviews. As I'm not able to personally respond to all the 'guests', this will have to serve as my thank you and know that I appreciate each and every one of you too. Also a big thank you to Margaret for taking the time to pre-read and beat me up for not beating up Joe enough :) Love you girlfriend :)

Since I'm writing this on the fly, if there's anything you'd like to see covered in the next few chapters, let it out. Thanks again :)

**Chapter 4**

I changed into my skinny jeans and a low-cut red T-shirt. He said casual, right? I looked at myself in the mirror and decided this was just_ too_ casual. I was dressing for Joe, not Ranger.

I looked through my closet again and found a black stretch pencil skirt that hit below the knee but was tight in all the right places. I added a pair of mid-heeled ankle-strap sandals that made my legs look good and a sleeveless heathered-grey cowl-neck sweater that showed off quite a bit of cleavage with the right bra. Much more Ranger-appropriate.

I tarted up the make-up a bit, adding another coat of mascara and this new, bright red translucent lip gloss which made it impossible to look at anything but my lips. _Now_ I deemed myself good to go.

At 6:45 on the dot I answered a knock to my door. Punctual Ranger looked like he'd just stepped off the cover of GQ with the black slacks and cashmere sweater pushed up on his forearms, he was currently sporting. In his hands was a bouquet of freesia wrapped in clear florist's cellophane.

He looked at my lips and I noticed his dark eyes darken considerably more before he bent down to kiss them. It was no sloucher kiss either. When we broke apart he handed me the flowers; I was surprised they survived the kiss.

"I had a whole speech prepared but you disarmed me again," he said, the almost smile appearing as he gave my lips another appreciative look.

The ad said this lip gloss could bring strong men to their knees. Obviously that wasn't just a ploy. 'Good to know', I smiled to myself as I took the flowers into my kitchen to find something appropriate to put them into. I was staring up at the top shelf where I stuck the only vase I owned, trying to think of an easy way to get to it without dragging over a chair. For once I was glad that Ranger never missed a trick and his strong arms came up behind me to reach for the heavy object.

"Thank you," I said as his arm accidently brushed against the side of my right breast sending a jolt of electricity south.

"I was very proud of you today Babe. You did good."

That could mean anything but I took it to mean he liked how I dealt with my life's problems: Morelli and my too-easy to break into apartment.

"Thank you Ranger and this is a very sweet gesture," I nodded to the flowers laying on my countertop while I filled the vase.

He blew me off immediately; the words 'sweet' and 'Ranger' should _never_ be uttered in the same sentence. I got that. Too bad. It _was_ sweet.

"We should get going," he said breaking the tension I guess I created. "We have 7:00 reservations."

"I'm good. I already fed Rex," I said removing the cellophane and putting the flowers into the vase quickly, since Ranger seemed to be in some sort of a mood.

My heels weren't that high that I wasn't able to take the stairs but the elevator dinged just as we got there. Shame to waste a good ride, so I ushered us on.

Mrs. Bestler was manning the controls as usual. "Lower level. _Makeup_ and transportation." Makeup? What was she trying to tell me? I quickly pulled my compact from my bag only to notice the bright red lip gloss that was supposed to stay put for twelve hours had smeared. I guessed it didn't hold up to _that_ promise, but then again it never said it was Ranger-proof. I just as quickly grabbed a tissue and removed it all. I'd reapply it in the car.

"Thank you Mrs. B.," I whispered as we disembarked.

"No problemo," she winked. Smart ass.

It was just a short drive to the restaurant but unlike last night Ranger got into his zone. He was probably still dealing with the fact that I called him sweet. Big, bad, scary men weren't _sweet_.

"So tell me about this condo," he said after a few minutes. I guessed he made peace with being sweet.

"It's on Glenbrook Drive in Ewing. You've probably passed it a million times but it's so well protected you barely see the gatehouse from the road. Carmela tried to sell me on the kitchen; boy does she have a lot to learn."

"Updated kitchens with high-end appointments are a turn on to most people."

"Since when am I most people? But I _was_ impressed with the soft-close drawers. At least Rex won't be jumping out of his soup can every time I bang a drawer closed. That was a good _appointment_," I teased, using his own word.

"Keep it up Babe, I've counted two strikes already."

"What happens when we get to thee? Am I out?"

"Let's just say in your case the rules don't apply."

I knew that but I just wanted to hear him say it.

We pulled into a small parking lot next to a just as small restaurant that I remembered passing but had never been inside. Ranger helped me out of the car, then up to the door with his hand on the small of my back. It was hard to get used to the protective gesture, but I liked it. As we got close the door opened and a short man with a big mustache who seemed to know Ranger greeted us.

"Nick, this is Stephanie Plum. Steph this is Nick Giannopoulos. Nick's son Chase and I went to Rutgers together."

More information.

Nick picked up a couple of menus and ushered us to a table in the back. No surprise there. Once we were seated a waitress came by to offer us water and ask if we'd like anything else to drink.

"Some Agiorgitiko Babe? It's a really nice red."

"Sure." He always picked better wines than I did and the cuisine seemed kind of Greek to me.

"What kind of food is this anyway?" I asked scanning the menu once more, half of the dishes sounding unfamiliar.

"Mediterranean. Nick's family is from Greece, his wife is Lebanese; this restaurant is a nod to both."

"Well the menu looks interesting but I have a question. Am I right in assuming you only go to restaurants where you know the owners?"

"That's partially true and quite observant that you picked up on that. If we were dining in New York City I'd be able to do a more thorough search on the chef and his staff, here I leave a lot to chance. And since you once consumed poison that was meant for me I try to be acutely aware of the places I take us to."

"I hate that that keeps troubling you. It was no big deal, really. I was only sick for a few hours."

"Anything that prevents me from keeping you safe is a big deal. You should know that by now," he said taking my hand to his lips and keeping it there while he read my expression.

"So tell me what's good here?" I asked changing the subject.

"You might like the shish tawook. It's cubes of chicken breast marinated in mayonnaise, heavy cream, hot sauce, paprika and garlic. I think it marinates for a couple of days before it's grilled. It's the specialty of the house."

"If I get it will you try some?" I was hoping to get him to eat something other than grilled chicken and salad and this sounded like it would fit the bill.

"And if I get the broiled salmon with avocado 'tzatziki', will you try some?"

I guess this worked both ways, so I nodded yes. Ella's 'healthy' always tasted good so I should at least be open to trying new things.

We agreed to start with a platter of hummus, stuffed grape leaves and a roasted red pepper spread, served with warm pita triangles. Of course there was also a small Greek salad for you know who.

Our waitress came back with the wine, then took our order. Once she disappeared Ranger picked up his glass and offered a toast.

"To bold moves and your new condo."

"Thank you Ranger. It felt good to make some adult decisions today and thanks for coming to my rescue after my Joe meltdown."

"I understand the emotional baggage but it bothers me to see you so upset."

"You've found me in worse situations. At least I wasn't covered in garbage."

"That's true. Tell me more about this condo."

"Want to see it?" I asked, suddenly inspired. "I mean you have a way with locks."

"Getting through the gate is going to be difficult, even for me. Let me give it some thought," he said, turning to his phone and typing in a few words.

_**Ranger**__**'**__**s POV**_

The Mercados lived in unit two, right next door to the unit that Stephanie put a bid on. Hector ran a quick search for me and buzzed me that they were home, expecting me and had left word at the gate that I was arriving. I hadn't seen them since their son Aurelio passed away. Aurelio was in my Ranger unit. He also worked for Rangeman once we were out and was killed in the line of duty, early in our history, in what was meant to teach us a lesson. I hated using them to gain access to Steph's apartment but I had little else. I'd pay a quick visit, introduce them to Steph and then we'd go next door. I wanted to see the place anyway. From what I remembered that particular unit was not very well protected. It faced east/west, slightly above the natural land barrier and was an easy target from the road behind. If I were to spend any time at Steph's new place we'd need a Rangeman guard posted on Rt. 31 while I was there.

As this was not much different from the guard that was always on duty at her current apartment when I visited, it was something I didn't want Steph to know about at the moment as she seemed so happy in her decision.

"We have access Babe."

"Access?"

"To your new place. We know the neighbors and they are vouching for me at the gate. Rangeman doesn't run security on this place and I needed an in."

True to Hector's word, my name was left at the gate and after I showed my Rangeman ID we were let through. I had a bump key but I didn't want to damage the locks so I took my lock picking kit from the glove compartment before we exited.

"What's that?" Steph asked seeing the wallet-sized kit that contained different sized picks.

"Keys to your condo Babe. Let's say hello to the Mercados and then we can head next door."

She didn't ask any more questions so I parked on the street between the two units, and we walked up to the door of number 2 together.

Faust and Maria both answered my knock.

"Carlos. Long time no see, come in, come in," Faust said shaking my hand with vigor.

Introductions were made all around and I told them about Stephanie's bid on the apartment next door.

"It's a nice unit and they were always updating something," Maria told us. "It should be in very good shape."

"It is," Steph told them excitedly. "I don't know if my bid was accepted or when I'll be able to close on it but I wanted Ranger to see the place in case I need to make some modifications."

Yeah like bullet-proof glass but I wasn't going to mention that yet. If indeed she did buy it, the entire east-facing side would need to be para-amarid reinforced and new glazing installed like we did to the Mercado unit.

"Do you have _keys_?" Maria asked when she realized that Steph wasn't that far along in the process.

"Uh no, but I'm pretty sure Ranger can get us in."

"We have keys. The owners gave them to us in case of an emergency. Let me get them for you. Just remember to return them before you leave."

"Thank you," I said as we were ushered into their living room. I was hoping they'd pick up on how important Stephanie was to me and keep a look out on the condo next door once word got out that _she_ was going to be the new owner. Our enemies would stop at very little and before she took possession of the place it would be good to have a watchful eye.

I noticed a picture of Aurelio on their credenza; he was in his Ranger dress uniform. I was sure my presence here brought up all kinds of mixed emotions for them. Aurelio was happiest doing what he loved and I was the one who brought him on board. They never blamed me but I could feel their deep-rooted sadness. Maybe having Stephanie next door would be good for them, although _I_ didn't want to be the substitute son.

We spoke for a little bit; it was good for them to hear the areas that Rangeman had gone into, as many were Aurelio's ideas. It was good for Stephanie too as she only knew what we'd let her be privy to before, but in fact we'd become a security 'brand'. Bad thing about this last half hour was that the romantic mood I'd worked to create in the restaurant had vanished.

"I'm sorry to cut our visit short," I said when I deemed the appropriate amount of time for the stay had passed. "I'd like to see Stephanie's apartment before we're too tired to take everything in. We'll be back in a little while with the key."

"Just push it under our door when you leave, it's already past our bedtime," Maria responded. It was only 9:10 but I was pretty sure our visit exhausted them.

We were given the key, then said our goodbyes with the promise of seeing them again soon. Although the units were attached in the middle via a firewall, we had to walk down one walkway and up the next. To make our going easier Maria had turned the outside light on for us. It was a nice gesture but I hoped she'd turn it off once we were inside. Being caught exiting an empty condo was not something I wanted to see in my future.

"Well Ranger, are you ready?" Stephanie asked excitedly as we approached the door.

I was always ready for just about anything, so I nodded yes, then took the key Mrs. Mercado gave Steph and opened the door. The hall light was on and I hoped that would be enough to illuminate the place. Again I wasn't looking to get caught red handed.

_**Stephanie's POV**_

I'd stopped in the Mercado's powder room before we left and reapplied my lipstick. I was hoping to bring back some of the spark that Ranger and I had earlier — before we abruptly left the cafe and came here. I realized most of that was my fault. Ranger was showing me his romantic side and I so desperately wanted to show him the condo that I blew the mood.

I'd work to pick up where we left off. I was tired of being a 'good' girl anyway. I was able to tell Joe that it wasn't working for us...and now I wanted to move forward with Ranger. Oh, and yeah, I was really looking forward to a social orgasm. It had been a long time.

As soon as Ranger had the door open, I took his hand. It could have been perceived as a way to get around in the dark. It wasn't. I was drawing lazy circles on his palm as we took the short flight up to the living/dining area.

"Nice deck."

"You like?"

"So far. Show me these drawers you're buying for Rex."

I opened a drawer and tried to slam it shut only for it to stop mid-slam and slowly close on its own. He was grinning. I don't know if he was amused with me or the drawers. Probably me.

He leaned me against the wall and lifted my chin up to him. I could see his eyes dilate black even before he kissed me. Somewhere during the kiss he slid his thigh between my legs. It had been a long time and I felt myself inadvertently grind against him as he intensified the kiss. His hands made their way under my sweater and I think I moaned as he grazed my breast.

"Oh God Ranger."

"It's been a long time Stephanie. I love you and I wanted this first time together to show you how I feel, but I don't think I'm going to last long enough."

"Me neither." God, I needed a release; so much so I unbuttoned Ranger's fly and ran my hand over his very erect penis. God he felt good and before I could stop myself I was down on my knees taking him into my mouth. He pinched my nipples and moaned. I could tell he was holding back.

"Nice island Babe, shall we try it out?"


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks again for all the great reviews. And a big thank you to Margaret for taking the time to pre-read and beat me up for not beating up Joe enough :) Love you girlfriend :)

Not sure if this chapter does anything to move the story forward, but since it popped out I guess it was needed as 'background', I say with a sly smile :)

SMUT WARNING!

_**Chapter 5**_

Did Ranger just tell me he loved me?

I was in a bit of a _state_ and I wasn't sure if I heard him correctly. Maybe he'd say it again if I kept doing what I was doing. I ran my tongue over the head of his penis one more time and then I took him deeply into my mouth. God he tasted so good.

Next thing I knew my skirt was up, my panties were off and Ranger had me on top of him on the tiny kitchen island. He'd somehow gotten a condom on and had positioned me over him. I thrust down and moaned as I felt him enter me. Ranger is a big man and I had to stop for a second to let my body get accustomed to his size.

"You ok Babe?"

"Mmmm," was all I could get out as I used my arms to push myself up and start a rhythm.

I was on top so the pace was up to me. If this was only about getting myself off I'd keep pumping the way I was going but this was about Ranger too and he was underneath against the hard marble with nothing to do except let me take him for a ride. I wanted this to be enjoyable for the both of us, but god, I _really_ needed to come.

He was holding on to me and helping me pump so it wasn't all on my arms and I appreciated that. But where was my release?

"Babe, I love fucking you but you've got to slow down here. You're going to hurt me."

Hurt him? I never thought that was possible but maybe his dick wasn't made out of stone after all.

"I'm sorry Ranger, I just need to…"

"Let me take over."

He flipped us so that he was on top. Somehow his clothes appeared under me to make a cushion. I kept arching up, needing more. Needing to come.

"Aargh," I blurted out when my orgasm _finally_ hit. "God Ranger."

"Babe," he smiled at me.

He pumped into me a few more times using long, slow movements and I started building again. He then quickened the pace and thrust in deep. My body let go with one of those really intense orgasms that only happen by hitting the g-spot. God, it was good. I was just recovering when he pumped into me, once, twice again and I felt him shudder his own release.

"Oh God Ranger," I said when I could finally speak.

"You were in a hurry."

"I'm sorry. It's been a long time; I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No Babe, you didn't hurt me but let's clean up here and I'll take you back so we can continue this in a much more comfortable fashion. And if we head to Rangeman, Ella can have breakfast for us in the morning."

I guess he expected me to protest, and I was for a second, but the thought of Ella's breakfast won me over.

I cleaned up quickly and showed Ranger the rest of the condo. Somehow we'd never even made it up to the bedrooms.

"It's a nice place Babe," he mentioned as we were locking up. There was something unsaid there. Was it that the Mercados would be my next-door neighbors? They didn't seem to be meddlesome people, if that's what was worrying him. I'd let it go for now; if it were something major I was sure he would have told me already.

Ranger opened the turbo for me and helped me in. Those low seats felt really low all of a sudden and I was glad for the hand. He kissed me and helped buckle me in, his hand skimming my breast in the process.

"I'll be right back Babe, I'm just going to drop the key off."

I guess I looked a little dejected that we wouldn't have access again until the place was in my name.

"Here Babe, put this in the glove compartment." He handed me the black case from earlier and something else that felt like hard putty.

"What's this?"

"I made a copy of the key, be careful with that."

"You mean we can get in?"

"Yeah, we can get in and Hector is going to set up access through the gate too. By the time you move in we'll be old news. Be right back."

_We'll be old news?_ I wondered what _that_ meant and I also wondered how Hector was going to get us access. Too many questions though, I already fucked up the mood once tonight. I wasn't going to do it again.

We drove back to Haywood in relative silence. It was a good silence though; Ranger was in his zone. I hadn't been in the building in a while and I didn't think that Ranger and I had _ever_ showed up there together after nine o'clock. I wondered what people would think.

"They won't think anything if they know what's good for them," Ranger said, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips after he turned the car off.

I guess I said that out loud.

He helped me out of the car then reached behind me into the glove compartment to get the putty thing.

"I want to make a quick stop on two. Hector's waiting for this," he added as we made our way to the elevator.

"I don't think I've ever been to Hector's lab before," I mumbled feeling kind of special.

"It's only computer parts and tech gadgets but you'll know how to use them all before the month is over."

I forgot about that. Hector had _volunteered_ to train me.

We got off the elevator on the second floor and Ranger put an arm around me protectively as we walked down a dimly-lit corridor. Two lights were on—Bobby's infirmary and another office about the same size next door. I'd been to Bobby's infirmary a number of times, so I knew it well. As we past Bobby's, Ranger stuck his head in.

"Everything ok?"

"Zero took a bullet to the shoulder, he and Binkie are on their way here. Depending on how it looks I may send him to St. Francis. Hey Bomber, how you doing?" he added, obviously just noticing me lingering outside.

"I'm good. We're going to see Hector about a key."

"So I hear. Congratulations."

"You know?"

"There's not much I don't. And I offered to give you some first aid training but the big man here didn't think it was necessary yet."

"Oh? I think I'd like that at some point."

"See," he said to Ranger.

"I don't want to overwhelm her; we can back-burner that for now. She'll be with me most of the time anyway."

"Well not when I'm at work and that's when I tend to get all banged up."

"Guns and self-defense should take priority and I thought you'd like to know how to use some of Hector's tools — they may make your BEA work easier in the long run. And I can't see you stitching up your own arm anyway."

Neither could I, so I just let that one go and besides Binkie and Zero were making their way down the hall. Zero was dripping blood even through the bandage I guess Binkie applied. Well maybe I really _didn't_ need that training after all; even guys who knew what they were doing ended up coming to Bobby.

"Keep me abreast of Zero," Ranger said as Bobby trotted down the hall to help and Ranger and I went next door to Hector.

"Felicidades, Estefania," he said, looking up from a laptop and grinning at me.

I knew he wasn't wishing me a Merry Christmas, but it had a similar ring to it. "Thank you Hector."

"De nada. You have the impression?"

Ranger handed him the putty thing.

"You want to wait for this? Should take me about ten minutes."

"No, I'm not going to use it tonight. Just leave it on my desk."

With that Ranger and I followed the bloodstains back towards the elevator. I hoped Zero was going to be ok.

"No more distractions tonight," Ranger said pulling me close and kissing me in full view of the cameras.

"We're on TV," I whispered as I kissed him back.

"So? My company, my building, my woman. They'll get used to it."

"Mmmm, ok," I said as the elevator landed and the doors opened. We broke from the kiss so that Ranger could engage seven with his fob. I wasn't so sure this wouldn't go viral within the building but it felt nice having Ranger's undivided attention. He lifted my chin and kissed me once more.

"You ok, Babe?"

I had that gushy feeling in my core. The kind you get after a surprise kiss or touch. You know, that anticipatory kind of gushy feeling. Good gush. And I was surprised he couldn't tell that I was good.

"Never better," I murmured, saved by the elevator dinging our arrival. I didn't want to try to explain the gush.

He fobbed us into the apartment. I took a quick look around while he put his keys into the silver dish by door and removed the gun he had in his boot. Good to know he was dressed. The place looked the same as it had the last time I was here and as I was going to wander in for a closer look he came up behind me and took my bag from my shoulder.

"I have plans for you and they don't include this," he said putting my bag on the credenza with his gun and keys and nuzzling my neck. Of course he knew that exact spot; this was Ranger. Between the kiss, the nuzzle and the gush, I was done.

"Come here Babe," he said, turning me around so I was facing him. He lifted my chin to him and kissed me again. Ranger's a great kisser, tongue or no tongue. This time there was tongue and as I kissed him back, I slid mine into his mouth so he'd know I was on the same page. The island in my almost-apartment was just an appetizer.

That was all he needed. His hands were under my sweater and then it was gone. The bra went next and as he paid attention to my breasts he somehow had a free hand to unbutton my skirt. It dropped to the floor along with his dress slacks, which he stepped out of. I reached for the hem of his sweater so we could have skin on skin contact and tried to get it over his head. Without the heels I'd dropped as we walked into his apartment I was a little short, so he helped it over his head.

We stood in his foyer kissing and touching for seconds, minutes, hours, I don't know. I just knew he had me wet and ready as he took my hand and led me into his bedroom.

It was the same as I'd remembered it, masculine earth tones of ivory, dark brown, navy and black; very Ranger. He gently pushed me down onto his bed, then opened a drawer in one of the night tables to take out some condoms. I couldn't help but notice a picture beside the box. It was a picture of Ranger and me. Ranger was leaning against the turbo and he had me pulled to him, his hands low on my hips. My forearms were on his shoulders and we were smiling at each other.

"Moi?" I said, unable to _not_ react to seeing a photograph anywhere in this apartment.

Ranger took the image out of the drawer and handed it to me. "Tank took it."

"It's a nice picture," I commented.

"I didn't know what to do with it. Maybe I should get it framed."

"If you don't want it, I'll take it."

"I didn't say I didn't want it. You look sexy as hell there," he responded, coming in close and gently kissing my lips.

The gushy feeling was back and I was very turned on. I put the picture on the night table and turned my attention to Ranger. The last time I was here I had the vordo. I didn't have anything now but the pull was strong.

"Animal magnetism," I mumbled.

"Babe?" he questioned, pulling me close and kissing me again.

"You once told me that's what it was between us."

The 2,000-watter broke out on his face. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

"You love me?"

"I love you, Babe."

"I love you too."

"I know."

After that words weren't needed.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks again for all the great reviews. And a big thank you to Margaret for taking the time to pre-read and beat me up when necessary :) Love you girlfriend :)

I said this would be short and sweet and I only see a few chapters after this one. ShellySueD asked for an explanation about the guard and for a little background. Shelley, this chapter is for you :)

**Chapter 6**

From somewhere deep in my consciousness I heard Ranger tell me that he was going to the gym. I think I murmured ok and went back to sleep. I needed at least a couple more hours with these perfect pillows and gazillion-count sheets, although it seemed like too soon after that my phone began ringing somewhere in Ranger's apartment. I knew it was mine because of the old school telephone ring I put on it.

It glanced up at Ranger's clock; it was ten to ten, might as well get up anyway and if I didn't, I was pretty sure my phone would start in again. I grabbed a T-shirt from Ranger's closet and went out to find the offending object. It was in my bag on top of Ranger's credenza by the front door. Four missed calls, two messages. I checked the sender of the messages first; both were from Carmela Ragguzio, my real estate agent.

"Stephanie this is Carmela. I just wanted to let you know that another offer was made on the apartment last night. They offered 10,000 over asking. Call me when you get this message."

I was at the apartment last night; no one came by to look at the place?

I was staring at my phone unsure of what to do when the front door opened and Ranger came in, his hair still wet from his post-workout shower.

"Is something the matter Babe?"

"There was another offer on the apartment…"

"I know. Marc and Stephanie Pardo."

"What?"

"I have some things I need to tell you. Why don't you take a shower and I'll call Ella to bring up some breakfast."

My brain wasn't working too well yet. "_Marc Pardo_ made an offer on my apartment?"

"Technically it was Hector but take a shower. I'll explain over breakfast."

It took me a while to do the shower and the hair thing. I didn't have any clothes with me except for the skirt and sweater from last night and they looked too much like 'date wear' to have any kind of serious discussion with Ranger. Using his alias to put a counter-offer on my place had me pissed off and I hoped there was a good explanation. I raided his closet and found a black pair of cargos and a Rangeman T-shirt from the last time I worked here. For a moment I wondered why he hadn't thrown them out. And that made me wonder about some other things too.

I came out expecting bagels, low-fat cream cheese and lox; after all they were Ranger's standard breakfast fare but I was surprised to find Ranger at the stove whisking a bowl of cracked eggs next to an omelet pan. There were also hash browns on another burner.

"What happened to Ella?"

"She brought up the eggs. Why don't you come over here while I make us some omelets? I have some explaining to do," he gestured to a seat at the breakfast bar.

He had told me once that he wasn't very domestic so this whole scenario just seemed out of place to me.

"Tell me about Marc Pardo's offer," I said sitting down.

Ranger handed me a mug of coffee. "Light with two sugars."

I looked at him strangely but accepted the coffee.

"I guess I need to start at the beginning. Your name has been associated with mine for probably the last four years. For the most part it kept you safe in the bowels of this city; no one would dare touch Ranger's woman if they didn't want to deal with me…"

"Is that what you told everyone?" I interrupted.

"Not really," he answered dropping the eggs into the heated pan. "Word went out that you had my protection and to leave you alone. People interpreted that however they wanted to, but let me get back to my story. While being associated with me kept you safe in certain circles, it's also made you a lure to get to me in others. As you saw with Vlatko, I have enemies who would stop at nothing to kill me. What you don't know is that every time I would visit your apartment for more than a few minutes, I had an armed guard either in your parking lot or on the street. Spending any time there was pretty much an invitation to come and get me and I had no way of knowing who might show up at your door. And above all I needed for you to be safe."

I didn't know what to say so I just looked at him and sipped my coffee.

"Aurelio Mercado was my right hand man. He was a thinker, a strategist, much like a combination of Santos and Brown…"

"What about Tank?"

"Tank was my body guard back then. As I think you gathered last night, Aurelio had plans for Rangeman that took us beyond your average security company. He was brilliant and I paid him well. Unfortunately he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and took a bullet that was meant for me. I still fear that, like you, his parents can be used as a way to get to me. That said we've installed bullet-proof glass and para-aramid reinforced the east-facing side of their home…"

"What's para-aramid?"

"Kevlar is a para-aramid but there are other less commercially known brands that work better. In order for me to feel safe in your new condo I'd need to do the same thing since it's a clear target from Rt. 31…"

"So you want Rangeman to buy the place out from under me? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, not at all. And please hear me out before you jump to conclusions," he added, folding the omelet, plating it and bringing it to the counter along with the hash browns he'd dished out seconds before. He divided the omelet between the two plates and sat down.

"Take a taste, let me know if it needs anything."

I liked ketchup with my hash browns. "Ketchup?"

He reached back, opened the refrigerator and took a bottle of organic ketchup out for me.

I took a bite of the omelet. It was good. Better than good as there were pieces of melted cheese, spinach and mushrooms inside. "Mmmmm, Ranger. I didn't know you could cook."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me and I intend to change the things I can."

OK.

"Do you want to eat? I can continue after breakfast."

"Am I going to lose my appetite?"

"No not at all, just some things I need to tell you."

"Ok, then you can continue."

"You, as Stephanie Plum, making a deal on the place is something that can be traced and verified. I'd rather people not know where you live if you move. Preferably I'd like us to move in together somewhere but I know that's asking a lot at this point in our relationship. Stephanie and Marc Pardo only exist on paper so them buying the place won't send out any red alerts…"

"Stephanie?"

"I couldn't resist," he said with a huge grin. "I've had a passport and other paperwork for her for years. Please don't ask as I don't really have an answer."

I didn't know what to say.

"Tell me more about the Pardos buying the apartment that I put a bid on. Are they paying for it too? I wanted an investment."

"You can use your money if you want. Stephanie Pardo can never be traced back to you. I think enterprise is a good thing and I encourage it. I have something else I'd like to show you. Another Stephanie and Marc Pardo enterprise."

"Talk to me Ranger—enough of this _obscure_ language."

"I assume you were going to buy the place outright, no mortgage, correct?"

"Yes, that's what I was thinking."

"Give me the money, I'll add it to the Pardo account and we'll create duplicate paperwork that aliases back to you. You can have the investment but the couple buying the condo will be the Pardos."

"Can I live there? I kind of liked the place."

"We can both live there if you'd like but I'll have to switch out their security service. A lightweight like Effective Security is not going to keep the place as secure as Rangeman. And I'd need to make the other modifications I just told you about."

"The para-aramid and windows."

"Yes. And most likely a guard on Rt. 31 but if Rangeman is offering security it could just be another place where one is routinely posted."

"If it's really going to be that difficult for you to visit or live there why are we even bothering? It has to work for both of us."

"You wanted an investment."

"I could invest in other things. I don't know, the stock market, bonds, Rangeman."

"We're a privately owned company, we don't have stock offerings."

"Sometimes you frustrate the hell out of me Ranger; you know what I'm talking about. I want some sort of stable investment. God I know first-hand that nothing is forever in this world and I want to protect myself."

"Understood and I didn't mean to upset you. Are you working today?"

"Connie doesn't have anything. I was hoping you'd be able to give me a ride back to my apartment this morning."

"Give me an hour to tie up some loose ends and then I'm all yours. I'd like to take you out to Point Pleasant and show you something, would you be up for that?"

"You want to take me to the beach? I don't have shorts or a bathing suit with me."

"This is not going to be your typical day at the beach, but I think you'll enjoy it nonetheless."

"Sure. And you still want me to come for dinner tonight?"

"Let's play that by ear but I'll make sure you get some of Ella's tre leches."

"Um, I'd like to stop home first and change. This isn't exactly a Point Pleasant outfit and I only have three-inch heels for shoes. _And_ I have to call Carmela back. What should I tell her?"

"If you come downstairs with me I'll give you access to Rangeman's real estate lawyer. Talk to him honestly and he'll be able to help you either counter or graciously concede. I've already made you fifteen thousand dollars on the deal," he winked.

My math isn't the best but that totally eluded me. Instead of dwelling on it though I finished my omelet and coffee, helped Ranger put dishes in the dishwasher and gathered my stuff together.

Between the cargos, the Rangeman T and the 3" heels this was a totally weird outfit for meeting a lawyer and spending some time on five, so I changed back into my pencil skirt and cowl-necked sweater. I figured if I kept the makeup to a minimum I wouldn't look like I was out on a date.

Ranger was behind me just as I was slipping into the shoes. His hands were at my waist and he pulled me around to him.

"I like this outfit better but I miss seeing my name on your breast," he said bringing me to him for a kiss.

"Well from what you tell me, half of Trenton sees this breast as yours anyway. No need to advertise."

"True. Ready to meet Mack?"

"Sure."

It's only two flights down so we took the stairs and walked together towards Ranger's office. Tank was already seated in front of his computer as we strolled by.

"Hey Bomber. To what do we owe the honor?"

"Ranger wants me to meet Mack," I said, unsure of what else to add or how to act in front of Tank anyway.

"He's in. I saw him earlier. Ranger, got your note; I can take care of the McCreedy account. Why don't you and Steph do what you have to do."

"Thanks man. I was hoping either you or Lester would volunteer for that one. I'll leave Steph with Mack while I finish up Roeblings. Then we'll head out for the rest of the day."

"You know where to find me."

Ranger nodded to him, then led me down the hall to an office I don't think I'd ever seen before. A grey-haired, but still youngish-looking man was sitting behind a desk staring at a screen, a perplexed look on his face.

"Mack, this is Stephanie Plum," Ranger interrupted. "Stephanie, Mack Ernst, our real estate attorney.

"Ranger, you just can't do this. This is shilling and it's illegal," he said instead of acknowledging me.

"It's not shilling. I don't know, nor do I want to know, the sellers. I'm interested in raising the value of the property in Stephanie's best interests. And by the way you didn't acknowledge her. That's impolite."

"I'm sorry," he said, getting up and extending his hand to me. "Mack Ernst. And your boyfriend or whatever he is here, frustrates the hell out of me. He's always pushing the limits of the law. Jesus Christ."

"Ranger isn't..." I almost said 'Ranger isn't my boyfriend'. I've said it so many times, to so many people over the years, that it was almost second nature. I didn't know what he was, boyfriend didn't fit the bill, but he was _something_.

"He frustrates the hell out of me too," I finally said, words that came out of my mouth not ten minutes earlier.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone so you can compare frustrations. Babe, you know where my office is or if I'm done first I'll come and get you here."

"Ok."

Ranger left and I was alone with Mack.

"So Ranger said you'd give me some advice," I began before the silence got to be too deafening. "I made a bid on a condo and the _Pardos_ countered it with 10,000 over the asking. Ranger said I could counter the counter or walk away. Seeing that Ranger can't really stay at the place without securing it like Ft. Knox, I'm inclined to walk away. Especially since Ranger said we could work it out so this would actually be my investment anyway."

"Yeah, I'm not supposed to hear that part. If I handle the sale, it will be upfront and legal; what Hector does afterwards I don't want to know about."

"But it will be legal? I mean if I invest my money, I don't want to lose it."

"I can't guarantee it would hold up to a full-scale investigation but it probably would pass the once-over test."

"I should walk away shouldn't I?"

"I can't tell you what to do, I can only advise — and my advice would be to let the Pardos buy it. Ranger may be a pain in my ass but he does know how to make money."

"Ok. I guess I'll have to find someplace else then. Someplace we won't have to _para-aramid_."

"Probably a wise choice."

"I need to call my real estate person then. Ranger said you'd advise me on how to back out."

"Just tell her you're on a set budget and you can't afford to go any higher. She has a buyer, she won't care."

"So the Pardos really are going to buy it then?"

"The _Pardos_ own quite a bit of real estate in the area. They'll buy it and probably flip it. Shouldn't be a problem. And if I were you and you wanted an investment that Ranger could set foot in, I'd look at something on a hill with at least an acre of land around it. That way he'd be able to secure it."

"Gotcha. And it was nice meeting you."

I headed back towards Ranger's office feeling off. Why did he do that to me? He was encouraging me to buy the other day. Hell, he was encouraging me to buy this morning. I switched direction mid-stream and headed to the break room instead. I really needed a donut. I knew I wouldn't find one in there but maybe I'd find something.

Well I didn't find _something_, but I found _someone_. Lester Santos.

"What's the matter Beautiful?" he said, seeing me before I noticed him.

"I don't know what to think Lester. Do you think Ranger would ever do something to intentionally hurt me?"

"No. Never," he said emphatically, without missing a beat.

I didn't think so either, at least not until today.

"Did something happen Steph?" he asked when I wasn't forthcoming.

"I feel like I may have been tricked, but I'm not sure," I said, revealing what I felt comfortable revealing about the last day and a half.

"Typical Ranger. His brain works faster than his mouth. I think he was trying to protect you _and_ himself but he never came right out and said it. I know he'd love to see you make money from investments and it sounds like that was what he was trying to do by involving _the Pardos_. I believe they own about 4 or 5 buildings in this area anyway."

"That's what Mack said too and he also said they'd probably flip the condo."

"Well Ranger just made everyone in that development 10,000 dollars richer by upping the base price. Anyone else who tries to buy there will find a comparable that's 10,000 dollars more than it was yesterday. That's a good deal in my book."

"But I never bought?"

"You're giving Ranger money for this right?"

"I think so."

"If you give him what you intended to use to purchase the place you've made 15 thou before the place flips. If you give him the current selling price and he flips it, you'll made probably about 10. I see a win/win situation here and if I were you, I'd just give him the amount you agreed on with your real estate person. _The Pardos_ can float the rest and you'll make out better."

"You think?"

"I'm not a math whiz, but that's how I'm reading it."

"Thank you Lester," I said, reaching up to give him a hug. Someone should have told me that this morning.

"Get your hands off her ass," I heard and looked around Lester to see Ranger standing there.

"Lester just helped me more than either you or Mack did to understand this _obscure_ thinking of yours. Now I get the math. I was just thanking him for his advice."

"Santos?"

"You need to speak to your woman more," he said and walked away.

"I'm done for the day. Are you ready to go Babe? We can talk about this more in the car."

We just spent the morning _talking_. In my opinion nothing much gets settled by _talking_. I guess I'm a woman of _action_ and well, I certainly did see a lot of action last night. But if we were headed to Point Pleasant we'd have an hour to kill anyway so maybe I'd give this talking thing a chance.

Ranger drove me to my apartment and I changed into a pair of denim capris and a sleeveless tank. I threw a pair of shorts and a bikini into a bag and turned around to find Ranger standing in the doorway of my bedroom looking at me.

"Without giving too much away you might want to pack for an overnight."

"You want to stay over at Point Pleasant? Without reservations I think that's going to be hard; this is peak season."

"Trust me."

That was all he really needed to say. I usually did trust him and if he had something up his sleeve, I'd let him play it out the way he wanted to.

"I do Ranger," I said grabbing a pair of white jeans, another tank, some clean underwear and my boy short pjs. I'd stop in the bathroom on my way out and take some personal products with me too. "Ok, I'm ready. Just want to feed Rex."

I changed his water, gave him some hamster crunchies and a baby carrot. That should keep him until tomorrow. He wasn't a big eater. I grabbed my stuff from the bathroom and threw it in the overnight bag and I was ready. Ranger took my bag from me and I locked up the apartment.

"Santos and Mack say I need to talk to you," he started as we wound our way towards the parkway. "I thought I did that this morning. I guess I didn't say enough."

"You said plenty Ranger. It just wasn't what I needed to hear to feel you had my best interests in mind."

"I always have your best interests in mind. But I understand you not catching my drift."

"Lester explained it to me. I'm good now. By offering over the asking you've increased the value of everyone's condo in the development and if I give you my money to invest, I stand to make close to 20 thousand when you flip it."

"You'll probably make more than that, and Santos is a smart man. Don't think he's not doing the same thing."

Hmmm.

Ranger drove for a while and seemed to get into his zone. I was ok with that. I guessed I had a lot to learn about real estate after all. I kind of thought it was kind of like shopping the sale racks at Macy's. Sometimes you could even get a better deal if you held out longer. Guessed not.

As we got off the parkway, we headed south on Rt 35 towards Point Pleasant but continued past the turn-off I'd usually take.

"Where are we going Ranger?"

"You'll see in a few minutes," he said turning left and heading down a residential street towards the ocean.

We stopped in front of a piece of property with a gate outside of it. Ranger got out of the car and fobbed the gate open and then we drove through. I could see a few trucks and a couple of dumpsters in front of the house — a modern beach house. It looked the place was undergoing renovations.

"Is this your home?"

"It's a Stephanie and Marc Pardo investment but I bought it with you in mind."

"Where are we?"

"This is the town of Brick and the houses along this peninsula are all ocean-facing. You can have your very own beach."

"Isn't this where the houses were destroyed by Sandy?"

"It is and I got a good deal on the place. I've already moved the house back and secured the shoreline. We should be safe from future storms. I'm in the process of renovating the inside and I could use your help. As you can see they've gutted everything."

"My help? I don't know anything about renovating."

"You know what you like, Babe."


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for all the reviews and I'm sorry if I didn't thank you personally. I try to get to them all but sometimes real life interferes; just know that I read them and loved each and every one. And a big thank you too to Margaret for reading ahead as my beta.

_**Previously:**_

_"Is this your home?"_

_"It's a Stephanie and Marc Pardo investment but I bought it with you in mind."_

_"Where are we?"_

_"This is the town of Brick and the houses along this peninsula are all ocean-facing. You can have your very own beach."_

_"Isn't this where the houses were destroyed by Sandy?"_

_"It is and I got a good deal on the place. I've already moved the house back and secured the shoreline. We should be safe from future storms. I'm in the process of renovating the inside and I could use your help. As you can see they've gutted everything."_

_"My help? I don't know anything about renovating."_

_"You know what you like, Babe."_

**Chapter 7**

Ranger took me inside and introduced me to his contractor. His name was Valdez and he seemed like a nice guy. I mean, I couldn't understand a thing he said but he seemed nice.

"We're pretty much doing a gut renovation of the first floor. The upstairs is still intact but the plumbing and electricity have been disconnected."

"And you want us to stay here?"

"No. There are two other structures on the property. The building behind this one has a three-car garage on the ground level and a two-bedroom apartment over it. I was thinking about turning it into a gym but we can stay there in the meantime."

"And the other structure?"

"There's a small cabana building alongside the pool. Both the pool and the cabana need work but I thought we could keep them…if you agree."

"If I agree?" I remarked quizzically as Ranger walked me through the first floor pointing out rooms as we went.

"You wanted an investment. I was hoping you'd invest in me."

"Invest in you?" I repeated, much like a parrot, while we climbed the stairs to look at the rest of the house. "Ranger, you asked me to let you know when I didn't understand you. This is one of those times. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Invest in our relationship. We've both admitted our love for each other; let's do something to move it forward," he said, stepping closer and getting into my personal space, his hands finally settling on my hips. "Move in with me Babe. Help me fix up this place to make it ours. And if it's asking too much for you to stay at Rangeman with me too, we can look for another house near Trenton."

"Instead of this one?"

"No, _along with this one_. I know how much you love the shore; I bought this for you."

"So you're asking me to move in with you?"

"I am Babe. Part of my revelation. I can't live without you," he said pulling me even closer and kissing me.

I really didn't know what to say.

"Do you need an answer this second?" I asked when we finally came up for air. "We've only stared dating three days ago. I was hoping to have some time to get used to that."

"I'll always take you places and buy you things. I'm not using dating as a way to woo you into sharing a house. You're special to me and I hope to show you that for the rest of our lives."

_When_ he spoke, the man had a way with words.

"How about I agree to help you fix up this place and we can spend our weekends here. I love your apartment on seven but there's no separation between home and work when you're just two floors above your office."

"I thought you might feel that way. We can look for a house together and keep the apartment for emergencies."

"You want me to give up my apartment, don't you?"

"I've already explained about the armed guards. It could get expensive to have one on duty every day for the rest of our lives."

"It could. Can I have a few days to think about this?"

"Of course Babe. I wasn't expecting an answer immediately and you've already made me happy by agreeing to stay with me here. Valdez brought over some tile samples and countertop materials and the architect dropped off plans yesterday. Can you take a look at them with me?"

"Ok. Do you want to do that now?"

"Let me show you the rest of the place and then I thought we could go for a swim from your private beach," he leered, obviously eager to see me in a bikini.

"What an evil look Ranger."

"How would you feel about calling me Carlos? My family isn't onboard with 'Ranger' and my mother will cringe if you call me that."

"Just for Friday?"

"No, for ever," he said taking both of my hands in his. "I like the way you say my name."

"Carlos," I said rolling the r like I've heard Ranger, um Carlos do.

"Stephanie."

I shook my head. "I feel like I've done something wrong when you call me that. I prefer Babe or Steph."

"Ok Babe."

The place was spectacular; I could see why Carlos liked it. The whole back of the house was open to the pool and the beach beyond. I was pretty sure he'd done the bulletproof, para-aramid thing but no one would be able to tell. I bet he even had some sort of top-secret way to secure the beach and I'd already been through the gate out front.

After our tour of the main house, Carlos took me outside and showed me the pool. It was a large rectangle, with a small square off of it, keeping with the modern lines of the house. I was looking at the small square trying to figure out what it was and why it was separate.

"Hot tub Babe."

"Oh. Is that the cabana?" I asked, pointing to a small structure that fit into the landscape.

"It is. Both the pool and the cabana are made out of concrete, which has high thermal mass…" I glared at him again. If I had to call him on everything, I would. "Good heat retention," he explained. "And we think there used to be solar panels on the roof. Sandy did a lot of damage here, but it's all repairable. What do you think?"

"Can we go inside or is it condemned?"

"We can go inside; there's not much to look at though. Whatever was once in there was flushed out to sea, so we're going to have to start over. Valdez says the structure is sound although it needs to be resurfaced."

"This is a lot of work Ra…Carlos. Are you sure it's worth it?"

"It's worth it just to see you smile but I got the house on auction and if we decide to sell after the renovations are complete, we stand to make over a million."

"You keep saying _we_ Carlos. I haven't contributed a penny to this place…"

"My gift to you Babe but remember, although it is in Marc _and _Stephanie Pardo's names, I see this as _our _investment."

"Talking about Marc and Stephanie Pardo, Mack said if someone went over Hector's paperwork with a fine-toothed comb we could get into a lot of trouble."

"I pay cash for everything—there are no mortgages—and lots of corporations use a DBA to purchase real estate. Mack is just risk-averse."

"So I won't lose money if I give you the 240 I planned to use to buy the place in Ewing?"

"Trust me Babe. Your 240 is already worth 255 and we haven't flipped it yet. My plan is to hold onto it for 6 months, redo the master bath and then sell it for 265. You've made 25 thou in 6 months; pretty good if you ask me."

"Mack said you had a way with money."

"Why don't we change into bathing suits and go check out the beach? If we want to stay here tonight I'll need to let Ella know so she can send some things down with one of the men."

"Are there restaurants nearby?" I asked, feeling bad that my culinary skills weren't better, especially since Carlos made breakfast this morning.

"Not that close and we'd need reservations, but we have a grill and a working kitchen over the garage. We can make something and eat out by the pool. We'll just have to pretend there's water in it," he said, giving me a half-grin. Must have been a Ranger, oops sorry, _Carlos_ joke. "I'll get our bags and then show you the apartment."

"I can help," I told him, following him back to the car.

Carlos had both of our bags so my help wasn't really needed except to walk alongside him and keep him company. He fobbed open a door that led into the garage and I could see the damage from Sandy pretty clearly. Everything that had been on the walls was lying in rubble and there were white marks from the salt water three-quarter of the way up the walls. He then opened another door and we took a flight of stairs up. And yep, one more fob before we were able to gain access; obviously he takes this security thing seriously.

It was a cheery apartment, just sparsely furnished. Like the house, the living room and dining room were windowed in large panels of glass with views of the pool and beach beyond.

"This is nice Carlos, are you sure you want to turn it into a gym?"

"Well I'm not going to rent it out and we have four bedrooms in the house. What do you suggest?"

I was thinking it might be a nice place for friends and family to come and stay without being right on top of us but the way the house was situated, the master suite was pretty far away from the other bedrooms anyway. And Carlos did like to work out.

"Well it'll be a _large_ gym. Almost as large as you have in Trenton; and that's for _all_ the men. What if it stayed an apartment with a gym next to it?"

"I didn't think about that; but we can probably put on an addition. A duplex apartment might actually be a nice place for our families to stay when they come to visit."

"I was just thinking the same thing about family," I mumbled walking over to the sliding glass door in the dining room and trying to open it.

I guess Carlos saw what I was trying to do and he used his fob to unlock the door. Those damn locks were starting to be annoying.

"Just keeping you safe, Babe."

I guessed I said that out loud.

"This is a nice deck," I said changing the subject and stepping out once I slid the door open.

"I saw us doing yoga out there."

Yoga?

"Um, ok."

"I saw us doing other things out there too," he added, coming up behind me, putting his hands on my hips and kissing my neck.

Yum. Sex on the deck with Carlos. It sounded like something I'd want to do right now but then I realized the contractor and his men were still at the house. And the house had a view of this building. Maybe by the time we came back from the beach they'd be gone.

"So Babe, what do you think? Do you want to stay here tonight?"

"Sure." And just to be on the safe side I added, "Um, what time do Valdez and the men usually leave?"

"Thinking about doing me on the deck Babe?"

Caught.

"Who me?"

"Let's go down to the beach. I'll call Ella while you change so she can send down some supplies. Grilled lobster for dinner?"

"Will we have to kill them?" I asked thinking about lobsters jumping out of the pot and running around the kitchen after me.

"Don't worry about it. I'll do it."

"Isn't this going to be a lot of trouble for Ella?"

"I told her I thought we'd stay over. She's expecting to pick up some things and send them down with Manny."

"But live lobsters?"

"They're kept very cold so they're sedated. Don't worry about them. Let's go down to the beach."

Good to know. "Ok, two seconds to change."

I put on my blue tasseled Victoria's Secret bikini and threw a T-shirt and shorts over it. I knew it was a private beach but habit had a way of taking over.

When I came out, Carlos was in the living room in board shorts that hung low on his hips and nothing else. He looked absolutely edible. I could conjure up all kinds of delicious scenarios, but knowing there were several men in the main house put a dent in my imagination. Bummer.

"You're not going to need this," Carlos said, pulling on the bottom of my T.

"I'm a little self-conscious with all those men around."

"Want me to pay them for the day and send them home?"

"That's not fair-they're here to do a job and if you keep sending them home the work will never get done."

"You're my priority Babe."

Strange as it sounded, I knew that I was. Since his 'revelation' we'd been together every day. It felt good, but it was a little smothering at times.

Instead of trying to figure out what to do with my T-shirt and shorts once we got to the beach I decided to brave it and left them in the living room. Obviously Carlos liked my bathing suit as he kept eyeing the little tassel that hung between my breasts.

"I can't wait to take this off you," he whispered giving a gentle tug to the string at my back.

"Don't pull too hard, it will come off."

"I know," he whispered again, the vibrations close to my ear giving me goose bumps and making my nipples stand at attention. Good thing the suit was lined.

Somehow we made it down to the beach without either one of us jumping the other.

The sand was hot under my feet and I couldn't wait for the cold water to cool them off. "Carlos, are there sharks here?" I asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, there are, but they like colder waters so they'll be more out to sea."

"You're kidding, right? There really are sharks here?"

"Yes, but confrontations with people are rare. Along the entire Mid-Atlantic coast there have only been 106 unprovoked shark attacks since they started keeping track of them back in 1916."

The sharks didn't seem to bother Carlos and he led me through our rock outcropping into the water. The water got deeper quickly and by about 10 feet out we were waist deep. Carlos pulled me to him and I could feel his erection against my stomach.

Both of our suits were under water, out of sight, and the next thing I knew my bottoms were gone and so were Carlos'.

"That was a fifty dollar suit," I said as my bottoms bobbed with the tide out to sea.

"I'll buy you another one," he said, his lips on my ear and his penis at my waist.

"The men," I replied, and then quickly forgot about the men as Carlos angled himself at my opening and thrust into me.

Getting back to the house would be tricky but at the moment I really didn't care.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for all the reviews and I'm sorry if I didn't thank you personally. I try to get to them all but sometimes real life interferes; just know that I read them and loved each and every one. And a big thank you too to Margaret for reading ahead as my beta.

**Chapter 8**

So we'd just made it back to the apartment, Carlos carried me, if you have to know, when his cellphone buzzed. Carlos looked at his phone and hit something on the keypad.

"Manny and Hector are here with our supplies. You might want to put some clothes on, I just buzzed them through the gate."

So that's what that was.

"What about you? You can't answer the door like that; I don't want them to think we were doing something."

I had a feeling if I didn't say anything he'd have opened the door _au natural_ but instead he went into the larger bedroom that we were sharing and grabbed a pair of denim cutoffs and a black T. Let me say for the record that these cutoffs were really _cut off_. I mean, I swear, if he sat down, he'd pop out. Not that I minded, but just saying.

I threw on some underwear and put on the shorts and T-shirt that I'd left in the living room earlier. I also put my scary hair into a ponytail and then went with Carlos to the door to greet the guys.

Manny had a brown paper bag in one hand, and it was moving.

"I think your dinner woke up," he said, giving the bag to Carlos. "And this is from Ella with directions to refrigerate," he added, handing over the large Tupperware he'd been carrying in his other hand.

Hector was behind him, bringing up the rear with a 12-pack of water and 8 large rolls of paper towels, bundled together.

"There's more in the truck," Hector stated, following Carlos into the kitchen and putting the water and paper products on the countertop. "When we come back in, you can give us the tour."

Both guys then went back out to the SUV to bring in more supplies.

"It's over an hour's drive each way," I said to Carlos. "We should at least invite them in for a while. Is there anything here to serve them? Cheese and crackers maybe?"

"Take a look in the refrigerator. I haven't been here in over a month but there might be some beer, I know there's wine and there's probably a few granny smith apples. I asked Ella to get us some cheese, so we can cut up some apples and cheese. Or we could invite them to stay for dinner."

"How many lobsters did Ella get?" I asked, worried that there wouldn't be enough.

"I'll put them in the freezer for now and humanely kill them after the guys leave. If we parboil them, we can grill them tomorrow. It really doesn't make a difference. I asked Ella to get us two and I'd like to share them only with you," he said softly, taking my hand and pulling me close.

"So what could we make for dinner tonight?"

"I have canned tomatoes in the pantry. I can make a quick sauce. I also asked Ella for some chicken breasts, which I'd freeze if we didn't use. Don't worry, we can improvise."

Glad he could. I could barely cut up cheese and apples.

We were still holding each other and probably staring into each other's eyes when Manny and Hector came back into the kitchen. Hector looked from me to Carlos to make sure the situation was under control and Manny was glib as usual.

"We interrupting something? Want us to split?"

"On the contrary," Carlos answered. "Stay and have dinner with us. Stephanie and I have something to share and it would be better hearing it come directly from us."

The way he put it, I was sure they thought the worst.

The guys nodded and went out to bring in the last of the supplies. It looked like Ella assumed we'd be here through the weekend. Truth was, if we didn't have to go to the governor's thing on Friday, we probably would be. In fact I wasn't all that on board with meeting Carlos' parents, siblings and niece. I was sure they'd have a problem with me. After all, I didn't speak Spanish.

"Babe?" Carlos asked sensing my anxiety.

"I'm ok."

"You're not. Talk to me."

"I tried. I took Italian in school. I could never conjugate the verbs right. My Italian sucks, my Spanish is worse, they'll hate me."

"If you're talking about my men, they love you already. If you're wondering about my family, stop wondering. They won't care if you speak Swahili as long as you make me happy. Trust me."

"I make you happy?"

"Very. Now come with me into the pantry and let's take stock of what's there. Then you can help me put this stuff away."

Carlos opened the big cupboard that pretty much separated the kitchen from the dining area. It had a bunch of staples in it; olive oil, canned tomatoes, some whole wheat and quinoa pastas, organic granola, spices. Obviously, he'd spent some time here before.

He grabbed a can of tomatoes, the olive oil and some spices. "Penne or linguine Babe?"

"Uh, with chicken? How about penne."

"Good choice, why don't you grab a box and bring it out."

I knew both kinds were probably going to be healthy but I wasn't sure what quinoa pasta would taste like, so I grabbed the box of whole wheat.

"Quinoa is good. You might even like it better and it isn't as dense. Why don't we try it?" he asked, eyeing the box I'd brought out.

"What does it taste like?"

"It tastes like pasta. If you didn't know it wasn't wheat, I guarantee you couldn't tell the difference."

"Ok. I'm game," I said, swapping out one box for another.

We then stocked the pantry with the items the guys brought in. By the time we were done, it actually looked like someone lived here.

Suddenly there was a large crack of thunder. I wasn't expecting it and I practically jumped into Hector's arms as he handed me items to put away.

"Let's see the place before this storm hits," Manny suggested putting a box of cleaning supplies onto the counter. "There's a couple of ponchos in the truck. I think I should grab them on our way over."

"Was it supposed to rain?" I asked. I mean after all we were just playing in the ocean and the sun was shining.

"70% chance," Manny answered. The Rangeguys were always prepared.

I could see big drops landing on the deck. The main house was only a two-minute walk away, but if it started to rain heavy, we would get wet.

"Let's head out now. Carlos do you have any umbrellas?"

"I have, I think, two Rangeman ponchos in the closet. I'll get them for us as we head out the door."

We quickly closed windows and made a dash for the main house.

Hector and Manny had been here before. In fact, it was the two of them that installed the security systems. And because they were just as nosy as any of my girlfriends, they wanted to see the progress that Carlos had made with the place. Since I only saw the house for the first time earlier today I had nothing to compare it to and had to take their word for it.

"Looks good. There used to be a wall here," Hector said, walking into the kitchen. "Hope your contractors didn't touch my wiring," he added, hitting a fob-like device near one of the light switches. Something lit up on his phone as the connection was made that had him smiling. Strange men. "It's still working," he mumbled to Manny.

"I thought there was no electricity here?" I added.

"Operates on a watch battery. Has at least a year's worth of power. I'll hook it up to the main feed once all the work is complete. What do you think of the place Chica?"

"It's nice. I mean all this is wasted on me," I said pointing to the kitchen. "But it's nice."

Carlos walked over to one of the cabinet drawers and opened it. "Babe come here and do your thing." I was wondering what he was talking about and then I remembered my rant on the soft-close drawers at the condo. I went over and slammed it as hard as I could. It only slammed so far before some kind of mechanism took over and closed it quietly. Brought a smile to my face.

"Did you do this for me Carlos?"

"Some things a woman has to find out for herself," he said, his 1,000 watter in place. I had the feeling he was making fun of something I once said to him.

"So what's this big secret?" Manny asked, looking from Carlos to me and settling on me for an answer. "The way he set it up, I'd guess pregnant but he's been away for the last month and before he left the cop seemed to still be in the picture. Unless _that__'__s_ the secret?"

"Stephanie's agreed to move in with me. We're going to finish the renovations here together and also look for a house within driving distance to the office."

"And you thought we'd be shocked?" Manny continued, sounding not at all fearful for his life by confronting Carlos. "I always felt it was just a matter of time. Can I ask what happened and does the cop know yet? The more we know the better we can protect Steph."

"Joe knows it's over between us. I told him the other day. He's already blaming Carlos and will probably be on the warpath for a while so I'd try to stay out of his way. And we're together because Carlos had a revelation when he was in the wind."

"A revelation?"

"I've been denying a lot of shit but when confronted with never seeing Stephanie again, I made a decision to let her know how I felt. I'm just happy she forgave me for all the crap I spewed at her all these years. And I told the cop I was going to pursue her."

"You told Morelli? I bet he took that well. So what's up next?" Manny continued. "You two getting married?"

"Baby steps Manny," I said, feeling like I couldn't breathe. I was fine when it was just the two of us confessing our love but now that this was going to be out in the open, I was getting a little panicked.

"And who else knows? I don't want to say anything to the wrong people."

"Tank, Ella, probably Santos…and now you."

"I'm honored and congratulations," he said. Hector still hadn't said anything and I was starting to get worried that he didn't think this was a good idea.

"Yeah congratulations Chica. Boss. This is great news," he said once Manny stopped talking. "I couldn't be happier for you. You think the cop believed either one of you? I'm worried that he's going to try to make a mess of things."

"He can try but he's not going to succeed. Now let's head back to the apartment before it gets too dark to see the path," Carlos said just before another loud crash of thunder.

We went to the door and looked outside. It was already pouring cats and dogs, the sky was erupting with electrical rage and large puddles of reddish mud had formed along the walkway. Even with ponchos we were going to get wet and we were going to have to walk through those puddles. Guess I could say goodbye to my sandals.

_**Ranger**__**'**__**s POV**_

I was sure Steph thought it was easy for me to confess to my men what was going on between us. There probably _always _was conjecture among them, as there was on Stark Street, but this was personal for me and I never shared anything personal. It was true I had an epiphany and realized that I loved Steph more than I'd been able to admit, even to myself. But I was admitting it now. I was admitting it to Steph and I was admitting it to my men. I'd be admitting it to my family on Friday and I already had a 3-carat ring in my possession that I was hoping Steph would wear to the governor's reception. In fact I had it with me now and I had expectations of presenting it to her when we were alone, hence the champagne and lobster dinner. I was going to ask her to be my wife. I'd never asked Rachel, I threw the idea out there for the baby's sake, but I was going to _ask_ Stephanie. I'd never been so afraid of anything in my whole life. What if she said no? What if she called me on my shit? What if, what if?

I had to forget about those 'what ifs' if I wanted to forge a permanent bond with the woman I loved.

"Flash flood man," Manny said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I think we should stay here until the water level goes down," he added, his Maglight shining through the glass door. In less than ten seconds the walkway went from passable to being covered in over a foot of rushing water and mud. He was right; we'd need to stay in this house without plumbing or electricity until the water receded.

"Have you ever been here when it's rained like this before?" Manny asked. "I don't think this is sea water so whatever you did to shore up your beach is probably working."

"No, this is a first for me but if this happens every time it rains, it's going to be a last. I can't have Stephanie here on her own if I have to worry about flash floods whenever we have a downpour."

"Thanks Carlos, but I'm not afraid. It's kind of exciting."

"You say that now. Let's hope the rain lets up, the water recedes and the sea doesn't come up to meet it or we'll be under feet of this stuff in no time."

"I'm going out," Hector said after another few minutes of us staring out at the rising water.

"Not a good idea, man," Manny reprimanded him. "It hasn't leveled off yet, that water is still on the rise. Have a little patience."

"Patience isn't one of my strong points and I want to check out the beach. If that seawall at the edge of this property isn't holding, we're in for a rocky road. I'd rather know now than later."

"Give it ten more minutes and I'll go out with you," Manny insisted. If they didn't stop arguing soon I was going to lose my shit. I didn't know when they'd turned into such mujeres.

I had my arms around Steph and I was gently kissing her neck trying to keep her relaxed as we looked out at the swirling waters. The rain was starting to let up and I was waiting for a sign that we were out of the woods.

"Let's go Manuel," Hector said seeing the same break in the weather that I did. "We'll be back in ten," he addressed Steph and I, "hopefully with good news."

The two of them put the ponchos over their heads and took off towards the shore. I'd paid a lot of money to reinforce that beach, if the seawall wasn't holding there'd be hell to pay.

"Babe want to make a break for it too?" I asked Steph noting the mud puddles no longer swirling. We'd get wet and muddy but that was preferable to hanging out here in case the rain came down hard again.

She nodded yes, so we donned our ponchos, I took her hand and we headed out. The puddles were ankle deep and the mud was slippery so I held onto Steph as we skidded towards the garage. I was glad we'd have a place to leave our sandals and I knew there was newspaper in the lower structure since I put it there myself. It wasn't the best thing to clean up with, but it would do if we didn't want to track mud into the apartment.

The rain had pretty much stopped and as we got close I could see Hector and Manny making their way up from the beach. I waved to get their attention and looking beyond them to the seawall, it looked like it was still intact. A good sign as far as I was concerned. I'd ask Valdez tomorrow about previous storms. If this were just a freak occurrence I wouldn't be too concerned but if the place puddled like this every time it rained, I'd want to start looking around for another piece of property. I'd always be able to make a profit on this one.

The strange thing about summer storms is that they are over almost as quickly as they begin and by the time Steph and I got out of the shower the sun was shining again. Of course that was going to be short-lived since we were edging towards sunset, but it was nice to see nonetheless.

While Steph dried her hair and got ready, I rubbed the chicken breasts with just a little bit of olive oil, red pepper and some herbs. I had the grill going and Hector made a salad. Mr. Ramos, who I was almost ready to kill earlier, had proven himself valuable by making his mother's tomato sauce for the chicken and penne and all that was left to do, once Steph made an appearance, was throw the pasta in the water and the chicken on the grill.

Unfortunately though, we'd have overnight guests as the flash flood took out the main road leading off the peninsula. If we were in the big house I wouldn't mind, but here the bedrooms were adjacent to one another and someone would have to sleep on the living room couch, also adjacent to our bedroom. I wasn't going to not make love to my woman, but we'd have to be quiet and I hoped against hope that the road would be passable by tomorrow morning. I had plans after all.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you for all the reviews and words of encouragement. They all mean so much to me. And thank you Margaret too for reading ahead as my beta.

Chapter 9

_**Again, Ranger**__**'**__**s POV**_

The water had receded overnight and by 7 am my neighbors were out, trying to shovel the mud from the main road. Hector, Manny and myself joined them once we heard the metallic rake of shovels on gravel. It would be a hard, tedious job but the local public works crew couldn't get to us to help. They were working on it from the mainland.

By 9:30 we'd made enough progress for the public works trucks to get onto the road. They were using their snow removal equipment and one small bulldozer to push away the mud and I was anticipating their engines giving out. That mud weighed more than the plows could handle. I'd called Tank to bring in a Hummer as it could do anything asked of it, short of calling in the National Guard.

Ram buzzed me from the highway. He and Cal won the job of Hummer operators. And since the both of them loved anything messy, Tank made the right call sending them in.

"Road is closed boss, you got some kind of permit so we can get through?"

"Give me five. I'll call the mayor. Don't do anything illegal, they barely know me here."

"Wasn't planning on it. We just wanna help."

I put him on hold and called the number I had stored for the Mayor of Brick. I didn't want to go over his head unless he turned out to be an asshole. In which case, I'd get all the necessary paperwork to take over this operation directly from the governor's office.

"Mayor Ducey, this is Carlos Manoso, CEO of Rangeman LLC and one of your local homeowners. Two of my men are on the mainland with a Hummer rigged for mud removal and we'd like permission to access the road." "I'm currently on Channel Drive helping with the local excavation." "They are there now. Do they need any special permits? The road is closed." "Ok, as long as I have your word, I'll have them remove the barricade and reset it again after they pass. Thank you."

"You heard, Ram; you and Cal are free to enter, just put the barricade back after you pass through. We'll see you in ten."

A few minutes after I'd gotten permission for the Hummer to help, I saw Stephanie making her way from the house to the road. I don't think she realized just how slippery the mud was, since when I looked over again she was on her ass and covered in red-brown sludge.

"Babe," I called to her. "Stay there. Don't try to get up. I'll be right over."

"What's going on Carlos?"

"It wasn't just us, the entire peninsula got hit by the storm. There's over a foot of mud on the main access road, but Cal and Ram are on their way with a Hummer so we should have it cleared out in a couple of hours."

"How long have you been out here and did you have breakfast?"

"I came out with Manny and Hector a little after seven. The neighbors were out and we've been working constantly since then. And no, I didn't have breakfast."

"Don't you think you should eat if you're doing all this heavy lifting?"

To me this wasn't heavy lifting. I regularly worked out with 250 pounds. But she was right; we needed fuel if we wanted to keep going.

"Do you want to make some peanut butter sandwiches?"

She looked at me funny.

"Protein Babe, and I know we have peanut butter and bread. But please…no olives."

"Can I take a quick shower? And how many sandwiches should I bring out? Coffee too, I guess. There's a lot of you."

"Make the entire loaf and there's a carafe in the cupboard, you an put the hot coffee into that."

"Milk and sugar?"

"Not for me."

"Got it. I'll be out in about fifteen minutes."

"Watch out Babe, the mud is slip…"

Too late, she was on her ass again.

Hector was at my side after I helped Steph into the house.

"You and the chica made a lot of noise last night, if we can't get out of here today, I'm moving to the main house, plumbing or no plumbing. I don't care, but I bet Manny was embarrassed. After all she once told the nurses at St. Francis that _he_ was her husband. How would you feel if your wife was fucking around with another man?"

"I'd feel like Morelli and we already worked that shit out."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. I got the woman."

"Good for you. Does Estefania know?"

"She'll know more after tonight. I hope you don't mind, but I'm throwing the two of you out of the apartment."

"Hands up man. Just do the right thing by her."

"I plan to."

Steph brought out a small table and placed it out of the mud, as much as possible. She'd made about 20 peanut butter sandwiches and they looked olive-free to me. I didn't know I had two carafes but I guess I did, since there were two on the table along with cups, saucers, milk and sugar. And she wasn't the only significant other to put out food. Our neighbor to the left had made some sort of a cake and a little further down the street the kids were squeezing fresh orange juice for the men. I poured myself some coffee and took a peanut butter sandwich. That was all the incentive others needed. Manny, Hector, Cal and Ram were right behind me along with some of our neighbors. Using the Hummer in conjunction with the town's small bulldozer, was going to make this go faster, so I didn't mind taking a short break.

A man came over with his hand extended. "Carlos Manoso?"

"Yes?"

"Mayor John Ducey. Thank you for coming out to help and thanks for bringing your company's Hummer. We've never had mud like this before."

"Yes we have," said a heavily-accented voice, coming up behind me. It was Valdez. "We had a similar flash flood a few weeks ago. Not as bad as this but there was mud. I helped shovel it from the road. You need an engineer to come out here and check this whole stretch. I think it needs to be re-graded. Ranger, what about the guy who shored up your beach?"

"He was expensive. Does the town have money for that?"

"The town has a lot of wealthy residents," Mayor Ducey responded, "and we have money in our budget for road repairs. If this off-kilter road is another present from Superstorm Sandy, I think people will chip in. No one wants to lose their investments again."

"I'll put you in touch with them so you can get an estimate. I brought in the engineering firm who are working on the new Tappan Zee Bridge. I figured if they could span the Hudson, they could fix my beach. And so far, so good. Everything held last night."

"Well, make introductions then. If we don't have it in our budget, we'll get it. We can't have the entire peninsula cut off from the mainland every time it rains."

_**Stephanie's POV**_

I was watching a conversation between Carlos, Valdez and some other man with the air of a politician, when Ram came up behind me. "So when do you want to start training? I'm off duty on Monday. Would that work for you?"

I don't know why the panic started _then_, but it did. I'd agreed to a relationship with Carlos. I'd agreed to training, and I'd agreed to move into his house. These were all things that I needed in my life. Well, maybe _needed_ was the wrong word. _Wanted_ was more like it. I wanted to be with Carlos. But I didn't _want_ to become more proficient with my gun, although I probably _needed_ to. I know, semantics, but to me there was a big difference. And now Ram was standing in front of me, offering up his free time to make me a better shooter. Shit.

"I'm sorry Ram. I had a slight panic attack. You know how I feel about guns."

"I do and I hope to change that. So Monday at Rangeman? Maybe eleven? I know you're not a morning person."

"Can I get back to you? I want to talk to Carlos about this again. And please don't take this the wrong way, I appreciate you giving up your free time for me. I just. I just don't know what's expected of me."

"I don't think there _are_ any expectations Steph. We're just trying to give you every advantage over your skips and anyone else that might try to hurt you. Tank told me that Ranger was very upset when he learned that you were injured in Atlantic City and we just want to make sure you're trained so it's unlikely to happen again. You know we only want the best for you."

"I know. And thank you. Can I let you know tomorrow then? I'm a little overwhelmed right now."

"Sure," he replied, taking a step forward to give me a reassuring hug. "We missed you this last month. You know you can stop by Rangeman at any time, it doesn't matter if the boss is around or not."

"You're very sweet Ram; thank you."

"No prob. I gotta get back to work. Ranger told Hector and Manny that he wants them off the peninsula today so I guess that means Cal and me too."

"He's trying to show me his domestic side. He bought lobsters."

"I didn't think you could domesticate him. He's like a feral cat, nine lives and all. Good luck with the lobsters."

Ram went back to the Hummer. Cal was at the helm and had fitted some sort of a contraption to the front. Obviously they knew what they were doing, I certainly didn't.

A few hours later I heard water running from somewhere under the apartment. I went down the stairs to see what that was all about. I probably shouldn't have. The five of them had shed their muddy clothes and were hosing each other off with the garden hose. I could either go back upstairs and make believe I didn't see all that fine muscle or I could offer to help.

"Do you need towels? Soap?" I asked from the stairs. "Can I take your muddy clothes and throw them in the washing machine? And do you need me to bring down some of Carlos' things so you're not walking around like that for the next hour?"

"Yes to everything you just asked, and thank you." Carlos said. "There are probably some cargos and gym shorts in my closet. We'll make do with those until our clothes are dry. The laundry room is right off the stairs and I know there's detergent. I brought it myself."

"Wouldn't you prefer a hot shower? That water looks ice cold."

"I didn't want to traipse mud into the house, but yes, we'll take showers as soon as we're presentable."

They looked pretty _presentable_ to me. Just saying.

"Ok. I'll bring down some soap and towels," I said, picking up the pile of muddy clothes from the garage floor. I might not know anything about kitchen appliances, but I was fully-versed in _washing machine_.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Well anything would be uneventful after laying eyes on five buff men in the altogether. God.

While Domestic Carlos made omelettes, Ram and I made eye contact. I couldn't help but think of that feral cat and almost had to leave the room before I burst out laughing. Then after our late lunch the men and the Hummer headed back to Rangeman. We were alone again.

"Carlos can we talk about my training for a minute?"

"No. I don't want to talk about anything else work-related today. How about we go down to the beach? I need a change of scenery."

Well that was abrupt. I'd try again later after he had a chance to relax a bit. I turned and headed towards our bedroom to change into the only other bathing suit I'd brought with me.

"Where are you going?"

"To change?"

"I don't think we should go into the water. The storm last night brought in a lot of red algae. You have very delicate skin, I'd hate for you to get irritated. Let's just take a walk. We can dip our feet if it gets too hot."

"Ok."

Alright, even for Carlos that was weird. I guessed he had a stressful morning.

I walked back towards Carlos and took his hand. He's always told me that I have the ability to calm him. I wasn't sure how it would work if I wasn't sleeping, but I was going to give it a try.

"You ok Carlos?"

"I have a lot on my mind. I had to let the mayor know who I am; I hope he can be discreet. It wouldn't be healthy to advertise this resident. Or you for that matter."

"He's a politician. I'm sure he won't say anything that doesn't make him look good."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Let's sit down on the rocks over there."

"Sure." Mr. Active wants to sit?

We walked over to the small rock outcropping and sat down on two of the larger rocks. We were right next to each other and our hips and legs were touching. Ranger took my hand.

"How are you doing? I think I've asked a lot of you in the last few days."

"I'm ok. I just wanted to talk about my gun training..."

"We can talk about that later. I have one other thing to ask of you," he said, getting up from his rock and coming over to my other side so that he was slightly below me. He took my hand once again. "Stephanie, I love you more than you'll ever know and you've made me very happy by agreeing to be in a relationship with me. I'd like to take this one step further, to show you just how serious I am. Will you marry me?" he asked, producing a ring box from a pocket on his cargo shorts.

I was stunned. I was flummoxed. I was speechless.

"Babe?"

I was incapable of answering. We'd only been a couple for five days.

"Carlos, isn't this too soon?"

"We don't have to get married tomorrow but I'd like to show everyone just how committed we are to each other. Unless you have thoughts about going back to Morelli?" he interjected, suddenly looking sad.

"No, no thoughts about Morelli. I'm very happy with you too. I'm just a little afraid. I want to get to know you better before I jump into a marriage again."

"Understood. We can have a long engagement. Take as much time as you need. You'll tell me when you're ready."

I nodded. He still looked sad. Sadder in fact.

"Carlos, you really want to do this?"

"More than anything Babe."

"Ok. I'll wear your ring."

"Thank you Babe," he said, taking the ring from the box and putting it on the third finger of my left hand.

It was a beautiful ring. Big diamond on a band surrounded with smaller diamonds.

"I love you Carlos," I said, pulling him to me and kissing him; the ring momentarily forgotten. All I wanted to do was show him how much I loved him. I didn't care if we ever got married. I just wanted to be with him.

"I love you too, Babe. Want to head back to the house so I can show you how much?"

I smiled and nodded yes.


End file.
